Change may be the only constant but the purest form of cricket has rarely seen much of it. It was only last year that the long awaited pink-ball Test was finally played in Adelaide in 2015. Then it was that India’s Duleep Trophy that also went the pink ball way.
But despite a lot of talk, one thing remains stuck in the sand: the Test Championship. The idea mooted by the ICC has been doing rounds for close to two years now but has not come into reality because of a few problems:
“How do you have a championship in Test cricket?” argued former CA chairman Wally Edwards to ESPNCricinfo last year. “How do you run a tournament? Test cricket is run over series, in different conditions in each match, and which team is best in all these different conditions, and that’s what Test cricket should be about.”
This is one of the apprehensions. Similar apprehensions from other quarters have pushed the idea back for now and ensured that the championship does not become a reality.
The rankings don’t make sense
Had a cricket fan been watching the Rajkot Test between India and England, there would have been questions raised about India’s No. 1 ranking in Tests. Similar questions have been raised about FIFA’s football rankings as well, which leads to a these rankings losing their significance. But with the ICC awarding cash prizes to the team that finishes top at the end of the season, these rankings certainly hold great importance.
Recently, Pakistan drew with England in England and went to the No. 1 spot, only to see India beating a New Zealand at home and overtake them. Does that seem fair? Are the achievements or results even remotely comparable? These questions raise further doubts on the rankings.
Unlike the One-Day International or the Twenty20 International formats, friendly wickets have a much bigger role in Tests which run for five days with conditions and the pitch changing, over due course. Teams get second chances in Tests and with wickets in their favour, matches can turn around in a jiffy.
Recently, Bangladesh exploited spin-friendly conditions to beat a strong England side in Dhaka in October. Consequently, it was the same England who made India, the world’s top-ranked team in Tests, chase the game in Rajkot as the pitch’s character was more sporting. Of course, the hosts returned the favour in the next Test in Visakhapatnam, handing out a comprehensive 246-run thrashing to England.
The gap between home and away
It is not an isolated incident. Even in the past, teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have struggled in countries like England, New Zealand and Australia where the pitches have a lot more to offer for fast bowlers and demand greater technique and adjustment. Not just that, even the wind conditions are different and hence, acclimatisation also becomes an issue.
The same is applicable for the likes of England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand who are great sides at home and similar conditions, but struggle in the subcontinent.
If we look at the top three sides, India has only played away at West Indies against a depleted side and managed to win to go top. Pakistan lost twice to England in the series in the summer while beating a West Indies team in October that spends most of their time fighting with their own cricket board. They also went down tamely to New Zealand away in the first Test of a three-match series.
Australia, placed third in the rankings, succumbed to a series defeat against South Africa, after being thrashed 3-0 in Sri Lanka. Their few wins came against New Zealand, a team ranked seventh currently.
Even in the 2015-’16 season, Australia played a lion’s share of games (five) at home and a series against West Indies. Their only competitive series was away to England which saw them go down 2-1.
Why a Test championship makes sense
Putting things into perspective, the rankings are clearly majorly defined by the number of home games a team plays and the opponents. So while India and Pakistan were helped by playing West Indies, although Pakistan did really well in their series against England, Australia and England too got comparatively easier opponents at home to stake a claim for the third and fourth positions in the rankings, having struggled against weaker opponents away.
For this very reason, a Test championship makes sense. The format could be groups and then teams playing home-away or picking a neutral venue where conditions test all teams equally. The competition would even out and make for an intriguing contest.
A proposed championship would not only generate more interest than a bilateral series but also even things up. It would be an interesting contest to decide the team which would hold aloft the ICC Test Championship mace, along with a few thousand dollars.