Two Tier Test Championship?

[luckyeddie]

It'll never happen (a 'proper' test tournament in one place), no matter how much debate there is on the subject.

Cricket is subject to the weather more than any other sport - and to schedule a 2-or-3 month 'test match tournament' would be totally unworkable. You could quite easily have every game in a group affected by the weather.

You can't have the games 'timeless' either- that's been tried in the past and it makes for stagnant cricket.

I'm with Neil. What's wrong with the present situation? Let the minnows tough it out with the big boys. They'll get there in the end.

 

[Mister Wright]

There has to be a test championship, the current system is just not good enough. To have a team who is on top of the table every year is just a joke considering not every team plays exactly the same amount of tests. Maybe if they use the current table system ensuring every team plays against each other over four years and then have a 5 test series against the top two teams with the top team getting home ground avantage - that is much better.

I like the idea of a two group test championship, it doesn't have to be tiered. You could have the top 8 play in one group playing each other twice - home & away. This could happen over one or two years, and then have a final with the top two. The second 'tier' would do the same thing without a final. The bottom two sides from the first group would then be relegated and the top two from the bottom tier would be promoted.

This system has many advantages. First and most important it would weed out the old players, and teams would have something to build towards, like the world cup. Secondly the weaker teams will have a chance to play each other and play regularily and build a competitive team. The stronger teams would play harder because they wouldn't want the embarrsment of playing in the weaker pool. Teams would actually play for something.

 

[JohnnyA]

It'll never happen (a 'proper' test tournament in one place), no matter how much debate there is on the subject.

Cricket is subject to the weather more than any other sport - and to schedule a 2-or-3 month 'test match tournament' would be totally unworkable. You could quite easily have every game in a group affected by the weather.

You can't have the games 'timeless' either- that's been tried in the past and it makes for stagnant cricket.

I'm with Neil. What's wrong with the present situation? Let the minnows tough it out with the big boys. They'll get there in the end.

I disagree. So what ... we should stop playing test crciket altogether because the weather might effect things. i know you guys seem rather attached to your league tables etc, but they say very little to me. Cricket, test cricket especially, needs an event. Using normal everyday series as a qualifying tournament would be the ideal impetus for test cricket on a global scale.

Use the league table to identify the top few teams ... let's say the top 4 teams. Each team plays each other twice (8 tests), with the top 2 points scorers playing off for the undisputed title of World Champion (9 tests in total). Or the top 6 teams were everyone plays each other just once (6 tests) - again the top 2 play off. More or less, the same number of games as an English test summer ... and that is very leisurely compeared to other ****** IMHO - baseball players go to work EVERY DAY for half the year!.

*the ****** is supposed to read s-p-o-r-t-s. Why is is getting blanked out????????????

Either make the decider a timeless test (too negative IMO), or if effected by the weather, play until every hour of all 5 days are met. If a result can't be met, then use scoring rate as the decider ... that should encourage positive cricket from the outset, which in turn should guarantee a result in the first place. Judging by a timeless test or wickets taken (in the event of a draw) would only encourage negative, boring Raul Dravid / Boycott style batting.

THAT IS THE SOLUTION ...

P.S. Luckyeddie ... was that your own selection or were you picking for iamdavid? Your pick is at the other end of the draft