Jay Shah, England, India, and Australia in talks to kill test cricket

[Johan]

Please, No.

 

[Betterpolo]

If that article is right then it seems that some countries that were (correctly) railing against the Big Three carve-up are happier with a Big Seven carve-up. Although I wonder if the view depends on the order of SRL, Pak and WI in the rankings at the precise time the initial, list is determined? It's the dog eat dog way of the world I guess.

One not very nice thought. If SRL and Banga were in the initial Div 2 then, given the problematic nature of Ind-Pak games, where does this leave intra-Asian Test cricket?

It's a debate that seems strangely disconnected from the quality of Test cricket we've seen in recent times, most notably the most recent series in Oz. Depressing.

 

[ImpatientLime]

i for one would like to see england get crushed in australia more often. great for the game. the west indies have won more games there in the past 14 years.

i presume the big three will be paying/contributing to the loss of funds for the tier two teams who will no longer play them?

 

[Bahnz]

The real reason two tiers could never work is that occasionally one of the big three would be relegated and they'd just have to cancel the structure of it.

Genuine question, when is the last time one of the big 3 were ranked 7th? England briefly dipped down to 6th right before Baz took over, but I don't remember any of them being 7th at any point (though with 88 points England definitely could've been 7th if SL and Pakistan weren't stinking up the joint so badly at that point).

 

[centurymaker]

The real reason two tiers could never work is that occasionally one of the big three would be relegated and they'd just have to cancel the structure of it.

They are not foolish though. It will never be a direct relegation.

A play off series against top ranked division 2 side to determine whether they swap places or not.

Ofcourse BIG 3 won't lose a series to arguably an 8th ranked side.

 

[Stefan9]

Genuine question, when is the last time one of the big 3 were ranked 7th? England briefly dipped down to 6th right before Baz took over, but I don't remember any of them being 7th at any point (though with 88 points England definitely could've been 7th if SL and Pakistan weren't stinking up the joint so badly at that point).

England were 7th on the WTC before the NZ tour. Currently only 6th on the WTC.

 

[centurymaker]

And to overcome India not playing Pakistan is simple as well.

There could be -
7 teams in Division 1
5 teams in Division 2


7 teams in Div 1 means a team has 6 opponents and only play 5 of them every cycle. That way India can avoid Pakistan.


The cycle with other others won't be reduced to 3 years. Only amongst themselves it will be 3 years. So every 3 years Australia, for instance, will play India home and away, as well as England home and away.

 

[mackembhoy]

Oh FIFA would love to schedule it every two years. The members revolted over the idea. The advantage of not having 3 controlling the sport.

I mean they've expanded the FIFA Club World Cup to effectively get something like that.

Even though not a single fan in the world of football gives a toss about it

 

[centurymaker]

Even though it kicks in mid way thru 2027, the schedule from 2027-2029 won't be much different.

2030 is the big gap year where big 3 aren't playing each other (just like 2026 when big 3 aren't playing each other). This is that 4th year they looking to get rid of.

For Australia:

2027-
BGT away
Ashes away

2028-
BGT home

2029-
Ashes home
...........,.........................
2030-
BGT away
Ashes away

2031-
BGT home

2032-
Ashes home

It works out nicely. The down year in each of the big 3's calendars' is simply removed. 2031 would have had BGT & Ashes. It's simply moved up to 2030.

For India:

2027-
BGT home

2028-
England home
BGT away

2029-
England away
...............,...........
2030-
BGT home

2031-
England home
BGT away

2032-
England away


They will probably keep the other teams in division 1 on a 6 year cycle!!! So for eg, Australia will tour SA once every 6 years, vice versa.


For England-

2027-
Ashes home

2028-
India away

2029-
India home
Ashes away

.......................
2030-
Ashes home

2031-
India away

2032-
India home
Ashes away


Basically, for eg, one year England will host India, next year Eng will host Aus and in the 3rd they will host 2 other div 1 nations. (4th and 5th year again Ind & Aus.) Then in the 6th year, they host 2 more div 1 nations to complete their 6 year cycle.

Same concept for away tours.

Having thought through the whole FTP for the big 3 nations. I think there is unlikely to be any relegation and promotion between the divisions unless one team falls away significantly in a 6 year period. Then they can maybe work something out and allow the 8th team to swap with 7th from Div 1.

 

[centurymaker]

UEFA Champions Trophy is every year. EPL, IPL, BBL. Yet they are all growing.

So it makes absolute sense to remove that 4th year where there is no 'big' series neither home or away. Plus you get 2 summers out of every 3 summers where you are hosting a fellow big 3 team.

 

[centurymaker]

It's very very likely to go ahead, which means next WTC cycle will be our last. Jay Shah is the ICC head... so consider it done.

Even if divisions aren't established somehow. AUS, ENG and IND will still play each other in a 3 year cycle going forward. So the situation will be the same for others whether there are divisions or not!!

Year 1 host fellow BIG 3
Year 2 host fellow BIG 3
Year 3 host two other nations

Year 4 host fellow BIG 3
Year 5 host fellow BIG 3
Year 6 host two more nations

repeat.

I mean they don't even need divisions here. It will already be like divisions.. when you play others every 6 years or more.

 

[Silver Silva]

Oh no this is bad

 

[mackembhoy]

Oh no this is bad

Yep rather than finding a way for everyone else to play more test cricket. They've just gone lets play each other more.

I hope the wankers all choke on their money.

 

[mackembhoy]

UEFA Champions Trophy is every year. EPL, IPL, BBL. Yet they are all growing.

So it makes absolute sense to remove that 4th year where there is no 'big' series neither home or away. Plus you get 2 summers out of every 3 summers where you are hosting a fellow big 3 team.

Nah I'd rather just play the other guys in a 5 test series than have to play Ind/Aus more. Would make them series just as big!

All this does is kills test cricket in the end. Cricket needs to open it's borders to more not become a closed shop which is all this seeks to do.

Didn't expect their to be a single poster on here trying to claim this was a good idea. So disappointed to find someone actually finding logic in this.

It's greed pure and simple. All them other competitions you mention are all just greed too.

 

[Molehill]

Cricket needs to open it's borders to more not become a closed shop which is all this seeks to do.

I think we all agree with this, the problem is how do you make it happen? There just doesn't seem to be the level of interest for Test Cricket in other nations (apart from NZ who have great crowds). SA were on the verge of qualifying for the WTC Final, yet no one turned up to watch the SL Series.

The WTC is clearly not the solution, maybe promotion/relegation to the top division is?

 

[mackembhoy]

I think we all agree with this, the problem is how do you make it happen? There just doesn't seem to be the level of interest for Test Cricket in other nations (apart from NZ who have great crowds). SA were on the verge of qualifying for the WTC Final, yet no one turned up to watch the SL Series.

The WTC is clearly not the solution, maybe promotion/relegation to the top division is?

Most countries lose money hosting tests against non big 3 countries.

Change the funding model to assist countries in series where they lose money and have longer series against the sides where they do make money.

I'd love a 5 match series against New Zealand for example. But we've had a diet of 2 or 3 match ones for as long as I can remember.

But the big problem with my logic is the BCCI, ECB and CA are money hungry nobheads.

Addressing the point as to why people don't turn up for the series against non big 3 nations. Is down to the fact these sides have become weaker because of the fact they play less red ball cricket. So fans just aren't as interested.

Because the big 3 have rammed T20 down peoples throats and lured the best players away to focus on making more money in those than playing red ball. Alas that shite isn't going away so Test cricket will die.

 

[centurymaker]

Nah I'd rather just play the other guys in a 5 test series than have to play Ind/Aus more. Would make them series just as big!

All this does is kills test cricket in the end. Cricket needs to open it's borders to more not become a closed shop which is all this seeks to do.

Didn't expect their to be a single poster on here trying to claim this was a good idea. So disappointed to find someone actually finding logic in this.

It's greed pure and simple. All them other competitions you mention are all just greed too.

I am being realistic here. All sports are commerical first. T20 is taking over. They are trying to keep tests relevant in the long run.

WI SL Pak etc will remain mid table for the foreseeable future. NZ doesn't have the population. SA has it own crisis (who is even left over there so much migration has happened). Ultimately in the long run only Aus Eng and Ind will have the resources and significant public interest in test cricket. So they are trying to create a strong 3 way rivalry. For so long it was just Aus & Eng and then WI. Thats how test cricket has survived. It's always been 2-3 sides keeping it high level. Kerry Packer's WSC had just 3 sides too. Nobody really wants test cricket outside BIG 3 and possibly NZ. Hardly anyone turns up for tests in other nations. Their populations have moved on from test cricket.

If nothing was done, almost all test cricket could vanish in some years, all it takes is IPL to eventually expand like EPL. And you can say bye to test cricket. Money decides everything in our day and age and they are trying to make test cricket as appealing and profitable as possible so that it remains relevant 'long run'. Series against SA, NZ, Pak will still happen like before though the marquee series will happen more often.

 

[social]

Australia plays who it want, when it wants anyway so I don’t see the big deal

We schedule series against the likes of Afghanistan every now & again but never play them

This way means that CA won’t be forced to make up an excuse for cancelling a series that it had no intention of playing anyway

 

[Molehill]

Australia plays who it want, when it wants anyway so I don’t see the big deal

We schedule series against the likes of Afghanistan every now & again but never play them

This way means that CA won’t be forced to make up an excuse for cancelling a series that it had no intention of playing anyway

You could argue that no one should be playing Afghanistan anyway given their stance on Women's Cricket.

 

[Flem274*]

I hope the head honchos involved get a cancer with similar pain and lethality to their influence on cricket.