4 day Tests and 2 tiers
It seems that the ICC are rightly considering some radical ideas for how to increase interest in Tests given the interest in "T20". I think things will level out - Twenty20 has it's place...but eventually it will be just another form of the game, not the dominant one. But the ICC are right to try to bolster the main form of the international game. However....
4 days Tests: I can't see how that will work unless you can get the players to play an extra session per day. The need is to increase the number of results without noticeably reducing the standards of wickets, so reducing match length can only mean an increase in overs, and I can't see the players going for it, despite the fact I'd love a nice 10am start and a late finish as a spectator.
Two tiers of Test nations: This can work as long as they ensure that 2nd Tier do play 1st Tier, but just less often. Any attempt to avoid Tier 1 nations playing Tier 2 would be pretty disasterous. And there needs to be a revenue adjustment so that Tier 2 nations are compensated.
I realise that it's difficult to push through change, but fingers crossed that the ICC can get it right.
3 comments:
Aren't the ICC missing the point here. The problem is that there's too much international cricket in too many different forms too close together, making too much of it meaningless.
I'd prefer to see the ODIs taken out of the equation - I'm not sure they add a lot to the game that T20's don't provide in terms of excitement and the thrill of a shorter game. And they aren't a patch on Test cricket for the intrigue and twists and turns that can only come from the longer form of the game.
If the ICC did that, it would make more room for specialists in both remaining forms of the game (ODIs just provide a grey area inbetween), and would allow meaningful blocks of Test cricket and T20 cricket without the endless rush to get one series out of the way to make room for the next one.
Why won't the ICC do this? I suspect it comes down to money / TV rights etc. I think that would be short sighted though - without radical change, all 3 forms of the game risk being undermined, and I don't think fudging the Test game into a 4-day format will do anything but undermine Test Cricket still further.
Four Day Tests
Three Day Tests
Two Day Tests
One Day Tests....
Can you see where I'm going with this?
I agree, 4 day tests are a ridiculous suggestion. In trying to make test cricket more accessible, you can not remove the elements that make it so enjoyable to the fans it already has. I agree with hawkey, less meaningless cricket is the answer.
Two tiers is an interesting idea. I agree that teams in the lower tier stll need to play some cricket against the top tier teams, and would probably require some compensation. With the amount of money coming into the game from T20, this shouldn't be a problem. It would mean fewer one sided matches/series and more high quality competitive cricket with teams like Australia, India, England and South Africa going head to head more often. It would also give teams in the lower tier a specific goal to play for.....promotion to the top tier.
Day/night test cricket worries me. The ball is a big problem. This was experimented with in the Australian domestic competition years ago but a suitable ball could not be found. Even the white ball only lasts 37 overs, which is a long way from 80. You then have issues with dew to contend with as well.
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