New Delhi: Talks are underway involving India, Australia and England to discuss the idea of a two-tier structure for Test cricket, allowing the ‘Big Three’ to face off more frequently. International Cricket Council (ICC) chairperson Jay Shah is set to meet with representatives from the Australian and English cricket boards later this month, according to The Melbourne Age.
The ICC has remained tight-lipped on the proposal in the backdrop of a heated debate with a flurry of opinions and reactions pouring in from the cricket fraternity, threatening to further polarise the already saturated world of international cricket.
Cricket legends such as former West Indies captain Sir Clive Lloyd and fast bowling great Michael Holding have been vocal about the proposed two-tier system, revealing a stark divide in opinions.
Lloyd is “disturbed” by the idea, saying the two-tier structure could be catastrophic for struggling teams. “I think it will be terrible for all those countries who worked so hard to get Test status. Now they’ll be playing among themselves in the lower section. How are they going to make it to the top? When you play against better teams,” Lloyd was quoted saying in the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.
Incidentally, South Africa will square off with Australia in the third World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s from 11 to 15 June.
Holding asserts that the ICC should focus on running cricket instead of backing plans by the Big Three. “For all its faults, at least FIFA actually runs soccer. The ICC must run cricket,” he wrote in the Telegraph.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri has emerged as a strong advocate for the proposed two-tier system. He is convinced that it holds the key to Test cricket’s survival in the face of the T20 juggernaut. “The top teams play against each other more often, so there is a contest. You want contests,” Shastri told SEN radio during India’s fifth Test against Australia at Sydney.
To delve deeper into the proposed system, ThePrint reached out to cricket stakeholders to gather their insights, analysis, and opinions on the potential implications, motivations, and potential framework of such a proposition.
Veteran sports writer, columnist, and author Ayaz Memon offered a nuanced perspective on the proposed two-tier system in Test cricket. Unlike others who have expressed concerns about the division, Memon believes it could bring benefits to the sport.
“This is not a 21st-century phenomenon. Cricket has become a global sport in the sense that we are living in the information age. But if we look back 80 years, the top two teams were England and Australia, and they were happy playing with each other,” he told ThePrint.
Memon believes that in any sport around the world, there are typically seven-eight top teams, with others striving to make their way up. Relegation and promotion, he adds, are common practices elsewhere. “To some extent, I believe cricket is cultured.”
“It’s a good option because the teams that don’t get to play matches will get more matches by playing each other more. If you have a system where the second tier exists and there is a prospect of climbing higher, at least they will have an incentive to play, apart from the fact that the money may not be as big.”
The cricket writer also shed light on emerging teams like Afghanistan and Ireland, which have a much smaller quality pool of players, or even New Zealand, compared to the Big Three.
“There are always going to be disagreements and resentment, but two things are clear: how to expand the list of Test-playing nations for Tier Two, and secondly, the world has changed. You want to see a good, rich contest, rich in terms of the quality of competition. You don’t want a weaker side being hammered by a strong side, and the strong side boasting about their averages,” he asserts.
“The concept of having a two-tier system will have its own nay-sayers saying it doesn’t work. If we look at the current situation, for instance, West Indies won’t be part of the top tier, but given their past legacy, there will be many who will be unwilling to accept the fact that they have to play in the second tier with fresh cricket converts (new teams with Test status),” Memon says about how the proposed division system could work.
“It’s going to be tough figuring out how to sort it out, but I think there should be a three-year period of testing and experimenting, because the number of matches each team is playing, even in the present WTC, is not equal, which has caused some heartburn. For instance, Sri Lankans are now complaining,” he says, hinting at Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews’ recent lashing at ICC for his country playing four Tests only this year.
Seasoned domestic cricketer Pradeep Sangwan spoke about the disparity in resources, infrastructure, and pre-existing divisions between the top teams and asserted that others could potentially be relegated to the second division if a two-tier system were to be implemented.
“There are only five major cricketing giants in the world at the moment—India, England, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa,” he says.
These countries, Sangwan notes, have stable first-class cricket systems, which contributes to their success. In contrast, smaller nations like Nepal are focusing more on T20 cricket, which has its own appeal and efforts being put in the form of newer leagues like the recently concluded Nepal Premier League.
“Test cricket is still far for such emerging nations,” he tells ThePrint emphasising that having a strong distinction between top-tier and emerging nations can help improve the overall quality of cricket.
According to Sangwan, maintaining the quality of Test cricket is crucial. Emerging teams should play more long-format cricket amongst themselves to help grow the game, he says.
“In terms of its scheduling, I think Tier 1 teams should make sure to play a minimum number of Tests against Tier 2 teams and make Tier 2 teams play more frequent series against each other with an increased number of matches,” the medium pacer opines.
Going by the media reports, Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan will feature in the first division. The remaining teams—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland, West Indies, and Zimbabwe— will make up the second division.
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‘Nahi chalega’
Unlike Sangwan, former India Test cricketer and broadcaster Atul Wassan is skeptical about the proposed two-tier system becoming a reality anytime soon, citing the ambiguity surrounding the WTC point system and its cycle.
“Long format cricket is dying. It is difficult to sell long-form cricket until you move to pink ball cricket and in the evening,” Wassan tells ThePrint.
Although India suffered a 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), ending their 10-year reign as series holders, Wassan considers the series a success, considering the high level of competition that made for thrilling cricket.
“ICC is handing out Test status to emerging teams like Afghanistan, but they are not capable of lasting the full five days yet. If you go for a two-tier system, it’s possibly because of economic reasons,” Wassan says.
“Most of the big players don’t want to play Test cricket because the low-hanging fruit (T20 cricket) is enticing everybody. They (players) believe ‘we can get more money and more fame for just a 20-over thrash’.”
“Where are all of the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries? West Indies? I think this two-tier system is going to flop and the points system of Test cricket needs to be reevaluated.”
Wassan suggests that stronger cricketing nations like Australia, India, and England, which have a larger pool of players, should send their ‘A’ teams to play against emerging nations, with the aim of promoting and growing long-format cricket.
“Imagine Test cricket used to be played for 9-10 days, and it went until the very end. What we see now, even in rain-struck matches, is matches ending in two or two and a half days.”
“‘Nahi chalega’ (It won’t work). Who is going to come to watch the Tier 2 teams? The money is going to come from the Big Three, or rather, the Big One (hinting at India),” he says, dismissing the proposal.
“The only way this framework can work is if the Big Three teams, which have ‘A’ team squads stronger than the Tier 2 teams, are also added to the second division. The boards have to take more initiative in breeding Test players and compensate them well. Considering Test specialists like (Cheteshwar) Pujara and (Ajinkya) Rahane are forced to play the shorter format for compensation, they must be encouraged.”
Veteran journalist Vijay Lokapally, who has written about cricket for over three decades, shared similar doubts about the certainty of the two-tier system.
“It is going to be tough. There has been, if you see, a negative reaction to it from former greats like Clive Lloyd. It’s a major decision for the ICC to make, but Test cricket is a dying format and you can’t leave out teams like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe. It’s not a good decision,” he says.
“New Zealand won 3-0 against India, South Africa is already in the WTC final, and West Indies also won against Australia at the Gabba. It’s very unfair on these teams…very unfair.”
He believes the reason why the BGT was a blockbuster is that India hadn’t played in Australia for almost three years. If such series keep happening sporadically, he says, it’s going to dilute the quality and intensity of the competition. In this context, he draws a comparison with the Ashes, which hasn’t been tampered with by the Cricket Australia and the England Cricket Board to ensure the rivalry remains strong even after many years.
“If you see, in earlier years, Zimbabwe gave an account of themselves when they beat India in 1998. Kenya was promising to become a Test team, but their administration was impacted. The point is, if you just have the Big Three playing amongst themselves, it will hinder the growth of other teams, because without competition, they will not be able to learn.”
The two-tier system, according to Lokapally, will greatly impact the economic dynamics, particularly considering the broadcasters. “In my opinion, if the two-tier system is to be implemented, it won’t happen because there will be opposition. The WTC structure is good enough, and there’s some motivation for all the teams. In case it works out, teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies will be happy to play among each other, have performances to celebrate, but in the longer run it will impact Test cricket,” he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)