Is it unfair to other teams that the ICC World Test Championship finals are always held in England?

[RedwoodOriginal]

However, if you truly are a fan of the game, then put aside your feelings towards India and you will come to the same conclusion that is is flawed.

You can't have a 2 year tournament where every series has more than 1 match decided on a random game in a neutral country.

Either stick to a league format only, make the final a series, or if it's one-off, give the top team the advantage because they have earned it. The ICC can assume custodianship of the pitch preparation to minimise any foul play ( from Indians).

The only way this tournament makes any sense is if you create two tiers with a relegation/promotion system. Every team plays equal amount of matches against the other. And the final should be best of 3. This way you ensure competition and competitiveness, the potential of one-sided contests is minimised and the poor performing teams actually have an incentive to get better.

Personally, I would prefer if the final is in England every year. But I guess it can be announced a year in advance.

Teams struggling to host test cricket/facing financial issues like Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe etc. should get full and unequivocal support from the ICC. Because that is the ICC's duty.

If ICC is not prepare to do all this then they need to stop paying lip-service about the future of test cricket.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Please, Stay on topic and no personal remarks for anyone.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

It was a balanced game between bat and ball. The pitch didn't start blowing up pieces of soil on day one. Neither did 550 play 490 only for one side to then get shot out for 120 in their second innings, which is something we see far too often in a certain country. Instead of crying foul maybe you should accept the fact that India were outplayed on both occasions by teams that were better than them in that test match. For a side that claims to have one of the best batting and bowling line-ups in the world...including the world's best fast-bowler, winning in a place like England should not be an issue.

So you think pitches like that are not possible in Aus, Srilanka, Nz , SouthAfrica , India or UAE?

You can only see good matches in England?

India was outplayed but that doesn’t change the fact that the venue of finals is unfair for Asian teams atleast ( unfair for everyone the day Eng qualifies).

 

[BouncerGuy]

@mominsaigol @jeeteshssaxena I hope you guys can talk about topic now because irrelevant posts will be removed again.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

So you think pitches like that are not possible in Aus, Srilanka, Nz , SouthAfrica , India or UAE?

You can only see good matches in England?

India was outplayed but that doesn’t change the fact that the venue of finals is unfair for Asian teams atleast ( unfair for everyone the day Eng qualifies).

Well yeah, England is the only place that has consistently given us balanced pitches for test matches in the last few years. And England can be beaten in a test match in England provided you're not too cowardly to do so as Sri Lanka (an Asian team) showed a couple of weeks ago.

There you go again with your fake consideration for "Asian teams"...as if Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh will ever reach the final lol. Just go ahead and say India, like you mean.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

The only way this tournament makes any sense is if you create two tiers with a relegation/promotion system. Every team plays equal amount of matches against the other. And the final should be best of 3. This way you ensure competition and competitiveness, the potential of one-sided contests is minimised and the poor performing teams actually have an incentive to get better.

Personally, I would prefer if the final is in England every year. But I guess it can be announced a year in advance.

Teams struggling to host test cricket/facing financial issues like Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe etc. should get full and unequivocal support from the ICC. Because that is the ICC's duty.

If ICC is not prepare to do all this then they need to stop paying lip-service about the future of test cricket.

I prefer test matches in England, too, as they are usually the most entertaining. But unlike other sports, there is no concept of a neutral venue in cricket because the conditions have such a factor on team composition and strategy.

So as soon as the final gets announced it already becomes more advantages to be a SENA country who generally only play one spinner than an Asian country who ( generally) rely on spin.

Your idea is a good one but nobody is interested enough in text cricket for it to happen. The only thing we can do is remove some of the flaws within the existing system.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

The WTC is very different and unique from other WC's say T20 or ODI or even Soccer or Rugby in the sense it takes place over a 2 yr cycle and not condensed in one country over 45 days or so. Moreover no game has more variations and vagaries to the weather, conditions, pitches than cricket or mainly tests.

For the sake of neutrality and to pin point the winner over diifferent conditions , my 5c worth - it should be played as a best of 3 tests over 3 types of conditions.

one in India/Pak/SL/Uae - Sc conditions probably in Feb-march
One in SAF/Aus - bouncy pace friendly conditions - probably in nov- jan
One in Eng/NZ - Swing and seam conditions - probably in june-September

This will be a true parameter of a champ team.

Imagine if 2021 and 2022 Finals of WTC was in India, We'd steam roll the combined World XI.

The above setup will challenge both teams out of their comfort zone and also in their strength zone.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Well yeah, England is the only place that has consistently given us balanced pitches for test matches in the last few years. And England can be beaten in a test match in England provided you're not too cowardly to do so as Sri Lanka (an Asian team) showed a couple of weeks ago.

There you go again with your fake consideration for "Asian teams"...as if Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh will ever reach the final lol. Just go ahead and say India, like you mean.

Just because we can beat them doesn’t mean it is fair, lol.

Obviously they can be beaten , the problem is that they get an unfair advantage of playing in home conditions. How difficult is it to understand that?

Even India played a 2-2 draw with them last time in England.

BTW, SriLanka is doing reasonably good these days.

 

[jnaveen1980]

And SG balls are not? Indian players like Kohli and Ashwin have gone on record to question the quality of SG balls.

Atleast with Duke balls the seam doesn't get destroyed within 60 overs

No way. DUke balls get changed frequently. It has even become a joke in the commentary box. Whenever there is no wicket "change the ball". They change like every 20 overs.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I don't care if it doesn't happen in India. But why not other countries. Another country would be fine as well. But cannot have every single final in England. First final became a lottery due to rain. Hope one of the final gets washed out. THey will realize what a joke this one-off test match is where they spend so much money just for one Test.

 

[Varun]

So as soon as the final gets announced it already becomes more advantages to be a SENA country who generally only play one spinner than an Asian country who ( generally) rely on spin.

Please remove the E from SENA.

 

[kingusama92]

More like BCCI don't care. I am sure if they want the final in India it will happen. ICC will jump to it and make sure it does.

I do agree that the format is hanging by a thread. A very slim one at that.

Yeah the BCCI isn't too fond of the format as it is.

I have a feeling they prefer the iconic series (Australia-India or perhaps India-England) and nothing else. The WTC as a whole doesn't seem like something they would be pushing for anyway.

 

[kingusama92]

I don't care if it doesn't happen in India. But why not other countries. Another country would be fine as well. But cannot have every single final in England. First final became a lottery due to rain. Hope one of the final gets washed out. THey will realize what a joke this one-off test match is where they spend so much money just for one Test.

My guess is they want to host the first 5-7 finals in England to get the WTC up and running. Once it's in a bit of a rhythm then they will expand.

Although I have a feeling the WTC might be dead and buried before that period.

 

[gazza619]

What is even more unfair is that India got to play the final without even being tested against Pakistan

 

[JaDed]

What is even more unfair is that India got to play the final without even being tested against Pakistan

The only one Pakistan should test now USA.

 

[giri26]

I don't think it is unfair to play in England but the format of randomly scheduling one Test is stupid. In England things can go either way when both teams are playing without much practice or without getting properly acclimatised to the conditions there. Either just award the team finishing on the top of the table the mace or have a proper 3 match series to declare the winner. Test cricket cannot be decided by one off games and it normally does not show the better team of the two. For example earlier this year India beat England 4-1 but if it was just one off test, England would have won and that would not be a fair reflection of the strengths of the teams.

 

[giri26]

Before anyone brings up white ball tournament finals, it is not the same thing. In the World Cups and Champions trophy teams play in the same country for few weeks to months and then play a one-off finals which is completely different from two teams playing in different countries for 2 years and then randomly playing a one off game in a different country to decide who the winner is.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I don't think it is unfair to play in England but the format of randomly scheduling one Test is stupid. In England things can go either way when both teams are playing without much practice or without getting properly acclimatised to the conditions there. Either just award the team finishing on the top of the table the mace or have a proper 3 match series to declare the winner. Test cricket cannot be decided by one off games and it normally does not show the better team of the two. For example earlier this year India beat England 4-1 but if it was just one off test, England would have won and that would not be a fair reflection of the strengths of the teams.

NZ had just finished a Test series in England when India went to final right after IPL. Same way in the second final, India went right after IPL where Australians were playing county cricket till that point. Rohit has summarized it very well as India had absolutely no time to prepare as the WTC final was right after IPL

Rohit's response was almost dismissive.
"Whatever time we find after the IPL, we will try and get ready for the WTC final. Around 21st May (end of IPL league phase), there will be six teams that will be out of the play-offs. Whichever players are available, we will try and find time to get them to the UK," he had said.

However, after India's crushing 209-run loss to Australia at the Oval, the India skipper suddenly felt the need for more preparation time.
"Ideally, yes, event like this, final like this, you need a lot of time to prepare yourself and that is what we did the last time when we were here in England. We had good 25-30 days to prepare ourselves. And you saw the result. We were 2-1 up until that game (5th Test, Old Trafford) got called off," Rohit told the media on Sunday.
The reason, he 'revealingly' said, the five-day game needs more discipline.

 

[FearlessRoar]

It should be on a rotation basis, with the final being held in a different country and venue every year.

This still won't be justified because international cricket is not being played in Afghanistan.