The Inaugural World Test Championship

[Bolo]

Need to look beyond WTC for wi I guess. They actually have a surprising amount of tests on the cards.

Series results will be of prime importance to me for a while. WTC will be a bonus to start considering in a couple of years, so no complaints on their schedule, particularly considering they aren't in line to win.

 

[cnerd123]

Sri Lanka
3 Tests vs West Indies (Concluded)
2 Tests vs South Africa (Starting soon)
3 Tests vs England (Oct/Nov 2018)
2 Tests vs New Zealand (Dec 2018)
2 Tests vs Australia (Jan/Feb 2019)
2 Tests vs South Africa (Mar/Apr 2019)
2 Tests Home vs New Zealand - Jul/Aug 2019 - WTC
2 Tests Away vs Pakistan - Oct 2019 - WTC
2 Tests vs Zimbabwe (Jan 2020)
1 Test vs Ireland (Feb 2020)
2 Tests Home vs England - Mar 2020 - WTC
3 Tests Home vs Bangladesh - Jul/Aug 2020 - WTC
2 Tests Away vs South Africa - Jan 2021 - WTC
2 Tests Away vs West Indies - Feb/Mar 2021 - WTC

Total Tests: 30
WTC Tests: 13
Teams Not Played: India, Afghanistan

No Tests vs India! Who would have seen that coming. Sri Lanka have the most diverse schedule so far, but despite playing as many Tests as WI they still play less WTC tests. Their schedule looks good tho - playing New Zealand, England and Bangladesh at home are all excellent opportunities to score points, playing Pakistan 'away' in UAE is a good recipe for a draw or two, and Away against West Indies is not so bad either. The only tough challenge is playing Away to South Africa. They have a pretty regular schedule, the largest break between two series being the 5 month break between hosting BD and touring SA. I reckon they're looking good to pick up around 200 points out of 360. That's actually a lot, this is quite a generous schedule.

 

[cnerd123]

Bangladesh

2 Tests vs West Indies (In Progress)
2 Tests vs West Indies (Dec 2018/Jan 2019)
3 Tests vs Zimbabwe (Jan/Feb 2019)
3 Tests vs New Zealand (Feb/Mar 2019)
2 Tests Away vs India - Nov 2019 - WTC
2 Tests Away vs Pakistan - Jan/Feb 2020 - WTC
2 Tests Home vs Australia - Feb 2020 - WTC
1 Test vs Zimbabwe (Mar 2020)
1 Test vs Ireland (May/June 2020)
3 Tests Away vs Sri Lanka - Jul/Aug 2020 - WTC
2 Tests Home vs New Zealand - Aug/Sept 2020 - WTC
3 Tests Home vs West Indies - Jan/Feb 2021 - WTC

Total Tests: 26
WTC Tests: 14

Not Playing: England, South Africa, Afghanistan

Less tests than either SL or WI, but more WTC tests. BD have a really hard schedule. India in India, Pakistan in UAE and SL in SL - they'd be lucky to pick up a single win here, and their best hope will be to steal a draw or two. At home the schedule is a bit better - Australia, New Zealand and West Indies all tour. It's feasible for them to win all those series, but BD being BD don't be surprised if they drop a few games as well. Overall they have a pretty tough WTC schedule, and not much quality cricket outside of it. I predict they'll finish with somewhere around 115 points out of 360.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Sri Lanka have got a dream run there tbh. A lot of potentially winnable series. They'll still need to overachieve massively but if they can't make the final with that sort of schedule then they probably won't come close for a while.

 

[Singh767]

Who are the 2 favourites to reach the final after this latest England 4 - 1 India?
India will batter everyone at home, and do servicable away I assume. So I think India will reach the final.

Lords is the fairest choice as the final ground in my opinion, and in England you are guaranteed almost full stadiums for tests. If the final does not involve England there will still be a good crowd, doubt that would happen in any other country if their home team is not present.

 

[Furball]

This is essentially the strongest feedback from Broadcasters - context and it's merely a reflection of the market and the larger audience. Look at how social media suddenly lights up during the World Cup or World T20. Why? Because every casual fan suddenly starts caring about the sport and following it. Same fans don't quite give a **** when a bilateral Test series takes place. A great example is the recently concluded South Africa-Australia series which was in my view one of the best Test series in terms of quality in recent times. Until the ball tampering scandal, hardly anyone outside of loyal Test cricket fans were even aware or following that series.

Broadcasters know this and if ICC and the Member boards want broadcaster attention for Test series, they will have to take this into account. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. A World Test Championship does add an extra level of brand value and excitement and it's always great to be excited about who's going to win a tournament.

Problem is that the current Cricket scheduling which is based on the Big 3 power structure heavily favours the Bigger teams at the expense of the rest of the teams. For example Bangladesh don't even have a single series against England in this period. Not one. This heavily dents Bangladesh's chances of qualifying for the Final because points you gain from playing West Indies and Sri Lanka are not going to get you there.

India have England and South Africa at home in the 2 year period which heavily favours India's chances of making the finals.

The point with World Cups is that they're short, sweet events that can draw in casual fans.

Test cricket, by its very nature, doesn't suit casual fandom.

 

[Furball]

Though there is a lot of buzz about the Test Championship, the reality is that the big three continue to prefer playing among themselves.

FTP (2018-2023):
England: 59 tests, 15 against India, 10 against Australia, 34 against others.
India: 51 tests, 15 against England, 12 against Australia, 24 against the rest.
Australia: 47 tests 10 against England, 12 against India, 25 against the rest.

Unless every series that is played counts, and ideally everyone plays everyone else, this does not have much "context".

This isn't a recent phenomenon.

When the big three was England, Australia and the West Indies I'd wager that a good chunk of the Test cricket being played featured 2 of those 3 sides.

 

[cnerd123]

Bump

So this is kicking off this August with the Ashes, India tour of WI and Sri Lanka's tour of NZ.

Pretty cool that it's actually happening. Kind of snuck up on us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–21_ICC_World_Test_Championship
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23526411/all-need-know-2019-21-world-test-championship

 

[CricAddict]

So, what is the impact to the championship now that Zimbabwe is gone?

 

[cnerd123]

So, what is the impact to the championship now that Zimbabwe is gone?

They we were never part of it so no impact

 

[Jezroy]

So, what is the impact to the championship now that Zimbabwe is gone?

Yeah just between the top 9 sides, and Zim/Ire/Afg just get the scraps.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Someone needs to start tallying up all the boundaries in case it’s a close finish.

 

[Spintolose]

At least Kane won't be getting banned for NZ bowling 7 overs an hour.

 

[Jezroy]

Someone needs to start tallying up all the boundaries in case it’s a close finish.

I know you’re being facetious, but...

What will happen if the final ends in a draw or is tied?

If that happens, the team with the most number of points at the end of the league phase will be declared the winner.

 

[morgieb]

I know you’re being facetious, but...

What will happen if the final ends in a draw or is tied?

If that happens, the team with the most number of points at the end of the league phase will be declared the winner.

I guess it makes more sense than the boundaries approach, but for 5 day cricket I personally would've gone with a "lead on first innings" approach, especially given the draw isn't an equitable one. Suppose it's fairer when the final is a neutral one.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I know you’re being facetious, but...

What will happen if the final ends in a draw or is tied?

If that happens, the team with the most number of points at the end of the league phase will be declared the winner.

That would be a huge mistake IMO, but I don't see a way around it. Having a final where one team only needs to draw could ruin the match from the get go. Unless you could ensure a bowling friendly wicket to avoid a draw.

 

[Flem274*]

yeah a draw should mean a drawn championship unless they make the final a 3 or 5 match series.

 

[morgieb]

That would be a huge mistake IMO, but I don't see a way around it. Having a final where one team only needs to draw could ruin the match from the get go. Unless you could ensure a bowling friendly wicket to avoid a draw.

I will say though that the ground is neutral rather than one team's home ground. So that helps a little bit.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

If the leading team were playing at home and only needed to draw, of course they would produce a 16 lane freeway of a pitch, anyone who has watched a few Sheffield Shield finals over the years could tell you that

Would have to be a neutral ground

 

[cnerd123]

Apparently the final is played at Lord's regardless of who qualifies

I want to do know what they do if the points in the league stage are tied. How do they pick which team gets to the final/wins if the final is drawn?