Two-Tier Test system: Is it the way forward?

Are you in favour of a Two-Tier setup for Test cricket?

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jnaveen1980

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Are they seriously considering. This series was a resounding success. Financially also quality perspective. Will they actually consider having more clashes between the top 3 while sidelining other teams. As it is teams like SA doesn't want long series.

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Australia, England, India and the International Cricket Council’s new chair Jay Shah are in talks to split Test cricket into two divisions so the big three nations can play each other more often in series like the just-completed Border-Gavaskar blockbuster.

Shah, Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and England Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson are set to meet later this month. According to two sources with knowledge of talks, a two-tier structure for Test cricket is firmly on the agenda.

Their discussions have been given further impetus by enormous crowds and broadcast audiences for Australia’s five matches against India over the past two months, the fourth-best attended series ever in this country and reportedly the most-watched Test series ever played.

Any plan for a move to two divisions in Test cricket would kick in after the end of the current Future Tours Program in 2027, a year which will also feature a 150th anniversary Test match between Australia and England at the MCG.

Numerous senior figures in and around the game have lately argued for more of the “best versus the best” in Test matches, including former India coach Ravi Shastri, who has complained of too much “clutter” in the current schedule.

“I’ve been a firm believer in that if you want Test cricket to survive and be alive and thriving, I think that’s the way to go,” Shastri said on SEN during the SCG Test. “The top teams play against each other more often, so there is a contest; you want contests.”

Should Australia, England and India be freed from having to play as many nations, they would be able to rejig their cycles to play each other twice every three years, rather than twice every four years as is currently the case.

In Australia, that would mean the financial cycle of the game would move faster, with only one year of possible “downside” in every four, rather than two out of four as is currently the case. State associations have been agitated with CA for improved distributions in recent times.

India, England and Australia are also conscious of the rapid growth of Twenty20 franchise leagues and private ownership, all of which is creating more competition for players and calendar space. The principals of the powerful GMR Group, owners of the Delhi Capitals in the IPL and recent buyers of the Hampshire county cricket club, were a visible presence at the SCG Test.

“It comes down to profitable cricket versus unprofitable cricket,” one industry source said.

A two-tiered future?

Possible seven-team first division for Test cricket: South Africa, Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Second division: West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

The concept of two tiers in Test cricket was previously floated at ICC level in 2016, with a model where seven nations would compete in the top division and five in the second rank.

However, it was ultimately shelved when the BCCI heard the protests of smaller nations, who argued that their hard-won right to enter the exclusive club of Test-playing nations would be degraded by the structure.

At the time, the BCCI, Sri Lanka Cricket, the BCB and Zimbabwe Cricket opposed the proposal, while it had support from the boards of Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies.

“The BCCI is against the two-tier Test system because the smaller countries will lose out and the BCCI wants to take care of them,” then-BCCI president Anurag Thakur said in 2016. “It is necessary to protect their interests.

“In the two-tier system, they will lose out on a lot, including revenue and the opportunity to play against top teams. We don’t want that to happen. We want to work in the best interests of world cricket and that is why our team plays against all the countries.”

Eight years later, however, money is talking ever louder to the big three boards, with the Indian broadcaster Disney Star seeing a growing gap between the marquee series and others. Australian broadcasters Foxtel and Seven are also eager for more matches involving India and England.

“The more the better!” one senior broadcast figure said.

Shah won the support of Australia and England to take over as ICC chair last year, ahead of the expiry of his final term as BCCI secretary.

A change in cricket’s structure would mean the current world Test championship only runs for one more cycle, despite providing greater jeopardy and context since its inception in 2019.

It has been subject to sustained criticism from England, in particular, with Ben Stokes’ team arguing that the WTC is too hard to understand and penalises teams that play more cricket. England have never been close to qualifying for the final.

“In all honesty, the world Test championship, it is a bit confusing,” Stokes said in New Zealand in November. “I don’t look at it … it’s a real weird one knowing that you’re playing for something over a long period of time.”

SOURCE:https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cri...ks-to-split-tests-in-two-20250106-p5l2bl.html
 
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It is a good idea. If Pakistan is in tier 2 then so be it. We should aim to work hard and get into tier 1.
 
India Aus Eng are on mission to end Test cricket from other countries they should keep that in mind that Test cricket ends in SL WI Pak Ban , cricket is the only loser, eyeballs will dry up watching Ind & Aus play each other one after another
 
India Aus Eng are on mission to end Test cricket from other countries they should keep that in mind that Test cricket ends in SL WI Pak Ban , cricket is the only loser, eyeballs will dry up watching Ind & Aus play each other one after another
To be fair they don't need outside audience. I want SA /WI/NZ still play a lot more tests though.
 
Are they seriously considering. This series was a resounding success. Financially also quality perspective. Will they actually consider having more clashes between the top 3 while sidelining other teams. As it is teams like SA doesn't want long series.


I am of the opinion that Pak has no appetite for test cricket except people who use social media or some part of overseas community so if they put us in division 2 & we don't have to play tests in Aus, RSA, or NZ nothing really changes for the general fan in Pak.

Test cricket is considered boring as a whole and T20 cricket is enough to keep the general populace happy. PSL fills up most centers while a test match has 400 people no matter who is playing it. Eng came to Pak & they reached a stage where tickets were being given for free yet still majority of the stadium was empty.

It will also reduce the load on domestic cricket where the 4 day tournament can be phased out and a more robust and longer white ball season can be scheduled. The tournament already is in doldrums and this year when it was at its peak & we were 'preparing' for a test series in RSA, they started a T20 tournament & named it Champions cup.

So whether we play test cricket or have a longer PSL window doesn't really matter that much at this point.

The second issue is more pressing & if the big 3 want to play 5 tests with each other every year that's up to them. To me it feels like an overkill & almost seems like diluting your product & lowering the prestige of the trophy. Hey Ind won the BGT by winning a thrilling series 2-1 & now three months later they have to defend it down under & then when they do it, there's another big series in six months.

The best thing about Ashes is that it's played after a while so you always have the appetite for it & it feels like an event. An ashes every year just makes it meh to me as a fan but then this is just me & my opinion.

If the finances match & they could sell it then why not.
 
I actually back this now. There needs to be a strong kick up the back side for the bottom ranking teams to put their affairs and house in order. There should be financial share consequences for low ranking teams from the ICC as well.

A country like Pakistan cannot be allowed to routinely get away with being whitewashed in Australia and South Africa without consequences. I cannot think of another way to force the PCB to take these defeats seriously.
 
To be fair they don't need outside audience. I want SA /WI/NZ still play a lot more tests though.
It's just a fallacy interest in cricket will die down if its confined to three countries in fact in 2035 we might not see an ODI WC
 
I am of the opinion that Pak has no appetite for test cricket except people who use social media or some part of overseas community so if they put us in division 2 & we don't have to play tests in Aus, RSA, or NZ nothing really changes for the general fan in Pak.

Test cricket is considered boring as a whole and T20 cricket is enough to keep the general populace happy. PSL fills up most centers while a test match has 400 people no matter who is playing it. Eng came to Pak & they reached a stage where tickets were being given for free yet still majority of the stadium was empty.

It will also reduce the load on domestic cricket where the 4 day tournament can be phased out and a more robust and longer white ball season can be scheduled. The tournament already is in doldrums and this year when it was at its peak & we were 'preparing' for a test series in RSA, they started a T20 tournament & named it Champions cup.

So whether we play test cricket or have a longer PSL window doesn't really matter that much at this point.

The second issue is more pressing & if the big 3 want to play 5 tests with each other every year that's up to them. To me it feels like an overkill & almost seems like diluting your product & lowering the prestige of the trophy. Hey Ind won the BGT by winning a thrilling series 2-1 & now three months later they have to defend it down under & then when they do it, there's another big series in six months.

The best thing about Ashes is that it's played after a while so you always have the appetite for it & it feels like an event. An ashes every year just makes it meh to me as a fan but then this is just me & my opinion.

If the finances match & they could sell it then why not.
It will come at a cost. They will reduce the encounter the clash with other countries. Historically India vs NZ contests are very rare event especially in NZ> They have very long gaps lke 4 years or so. It is mostly due to financial reason. India can manage this better than Australia and ENgland because India doesn't play Pakistan. Australia and England have home and away assignments with Pakistan. So that will take a hit as well.
 

Two-tier Test cricket talk gains prominence​


Mumbai: The suggestion to break Test cricket into two tiers – Division 1 and 2 – has done the rounds for over a decade, but Australian newspaper ‘The Age’ reports that the matter is slated to be discussed between International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah and executives from Cricket Australia (CA) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) this month.

If these discussions prove fruitful, Test cricket could become an even more closed group than the current arrangement under the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The proposed idea places the top seven nations – Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in Division 1 and others – Bangladesh, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland – in Division 2.

More importantly, this would facilitate the Big Three (Australia, England and India) to play each other more frequently; that’s twice in three years, whereas under the present arrangement they meet every two years.

The matter was taken up at ICC level in 2016, but was shot down by many boards, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). At the time, BCCI’s clout in ICC was based on its benevolence, allowing the India team to tour smaller nations and boost their balance sheet.

With time, Test cricket’s commercial appeal further diminished outside the Big Three nations. Cricket South Africa openly prioritised it’s T20 league by shrinking its Test calendar. That this formula – winning short, sharp series – worked in their favour to make the World Test Championship (WTC) final over England and India, who lost steam their five-Test series in Australia 1-3, explains everything about the make-do WTC arrangement.

On the other end of the scale, the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series saw record attendance and new viewership records. The Boxing Day Test at Melbourne broke all records with 3,73,691 spectators attending. Australia’s Seven Network released data on Monday that their free-to-air coverage of the series reached a record 13.4 million people in Australia. The Ashes continues to remain a big draw in both England and Australia.

If two-tier Test cricket sees the light of day, the WTC idea could come to a premature end, after the 2025-27 cycle.

Despite losing money by the day, many cricket boards push to retain the Test-playing nation tag because of the financial structure of the ICC Board where the 12 Test nations get the major share of the revenue pie (almost 89%) while the 90-plus Associate nations take home what is left. Whether reworking the Test calendar would impact the revenue model will be watched.


BCCI, which will see a new secretary take over this week, is likely to approach the issue afresh. ICC did not offer any formal comment on the issue when contacted.
 
It will come at a cost. They will reduce the encounter the clash with other countries. Historically India vs NZ contests are very rare event especially in NZ> They have very long gaps lke 4 years or so. It is mostly due to financial reason. India can manage this better than Australia and ENgland because India doesn't play Pakistan. Australia and England have home and away assignments with Pakistan. So that will take a hit as well.

Indian administrators are smart people but I feel they underestimate the Indian cricket fans intellect at times. This isn't the country stuck in the past & with an almost omnipresent Indian diaspora in all cricketing nations, burgeoning middle class, & genuine interest in Indian cricket from fans of other countries, they should be willing to take risks & spread the game more.

I am sure that a 3 test match series with South Africa every 2 years (home & away) will also generate interest and help with the finances. RSA also has massive NRI diaspora & the time zone is also perfect. Maybe they should get some young middle class grads from IIT who have interest in modern finances & see the world for the global village that it is instead of nepo babies landing management positions because their dads have blazed trails for them.
 
India is yet to win a test series in SA.

Having Ind, Aus and Eng playing against each other all the time seems weird.
 
India is yet to win a test series in SA.

Having Ind, Aus and Eng playing against each other all the time seems weird.
I don't think SA wants long series as it is financially not viable for them. Even India plays just 2 tests there.
 
I don't think SA wants long series as it is financially not viable for them. Even India plays just 2 tests there.
It should be 3-4 tests. 2 tests are not a full series.

I am not sure how much SA wants 2 tests is a factor here, because India also had SA for many 2 tests decades back. There was a talk about SA and India playing 3-4 tests each in future.

Having India in SA for 3-4 tests will generate enough eyeballs to make it lucrative for SA board. SA plays longer series against Aus and no way it's more lucrative in selling broadcast rights than Indian series.
 
They should allow promotion and relegation
Yes, that is fine but starting with just 3 teams in top tier makes no sense.

Have 5 in top tier and 5 in bottom tier with incentive for teams so they can shift tiers based on performance.

In all era we had 4-5 good tests teams and they played more often against each other so this will just formalize it and nothing else. It's always top 4-5 teams.
 
It should be 3-4 tests. 2 tests are not a full series.

I am not sure how much SA wants 2 tests is a factor here, because India also had SA for many 2 tests decades back. There was a talk about SA and India playing 3-4 tests each in future.

Having India in SA for 3-4 tests will generate enough eyeballs to make it lucrative for SA board. SA plays longer series against Aus and no way it's more lucrative in selling broadcast rights than Indian series.
SA has a lot of talent coming through. They just need to play more Tests hoem and away. Their home record is terrific. Just has to improve a bit away from home.But they are still a good side
 
Ah, I read it in details,

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That top tier would also reportedly also feature South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, while the second tier would be made up of Bangladesh, West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe - making a seven-five split across divisions.

Looks fine to me. It's not with only 3 teams in top tier. That did not make any sense.
 
Don't know the merits of the idea when the idea isn't defined at all. How many teams, how many tiers, what criteria to form initial tiers, how many teams in each tier, how many bilateral matches per tier in a cycle, how long is the cycle, point system, revenue distribution, relegation vs promotion criteria, some idea of scheduling, impact on ODIs etc.

It's just a discussion on assumptions and unfortunately, everyone has a different one at this point.

If I had time, I'd have given a stab and writing it down as a hypothetical. Can someone do it?
 
Ah, I read it in details,

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That top tier would also reportedly also feature South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, while the second tier would be made up of Bangladesh, West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe - making a seven-five split across divisions.

Looks fine to me. It's not with only 3 teams in top tier. That did not make any sense.

SO that means West Indies matches against top teams will be gone. wow. Bangladesh as it is doesn't play big series. Not a huge loss.
 
Test cricket should be played amongst only six countries -> big 3 + Pak, SA, NZ

The rest simple can't compete imo.
 
Apparently WI fans are not happy about it as i could read their comments in their social media
 
SO that means West Indies matches against top teams will be gone. wow. Bangladesh as it is doesn't play big series. Not a huge loss.
Yes,

First tier has 7 teams and second tier had 5 teams

Not different than 80s when we had 7 teams with some teams being good and some being decent.

In practice, bottom 5 teams are not really getting too many tests against good sides even now. Except for WI, I don't see any practical difference of tiers vs current reality.
 
Ah, I read it in details,

-------------------------

That top tier would also reportedly also feature South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, while the second tier would be made up of Bangladesh, West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe - making a seven-five split across divisions.

Looks fine to me. It's not with only 3 teams in top tier. That did not make any sense.
On what metric would Pakistan qualify as being "top tier" ?
 
Horrible idea.

WI, Bangladesh & Afghanistan have a lot of fan base. Please don’t kill their cricket!
 
If they implement this is what will happen

1) Top 3 will increase the number of matches against each other. Probably 5 tests home/away
2) There will be reduction in number of matches between top 3 and other contries in the top tier
3) There might be an increase in matches between lower tier teams. Windies vs Bangladesh, Bangldesh vs ZImbabwe.
4) Funding distribution may change.
 
Horrible idea.

WI, Bangladesh & Afghanistan have a lot of fan base. Please don’t kill their cricket!

Nobody's killing their cricket, they will still be involved .. with their ODIs and T20s.
 
Great idea . Tier 1 should belongs to top 5 team's .

No need to Play useless test series when no one wants them to watch and results are mostly predicable.

Hopefully it will officially accept by ICC metting next time.

:kp
 
Great idea . Tier 1 should belongs to top 5 team's .

No need to Play useless test series when no one wants them to watch and results are mostly predicable.

Hopefully it will officially accept by ICC metting next time.

:kp
If big 3 are unanimous about this decision there won't be any resistance.
 
Horrible idea.

WI, Bangladesh & Afghanistan have a lot of fan base. Please don’t kill their cricket!
Afghanistan/ WI / Bangladesh/ SL / Pak etc can play the test cricket with each other's . No one is killing Their cricket .

They are eventually matchup team's so test cricket will be only competitive .
 
The proposal I mention in thread yesterday will be close to the final proposal. Still they are unsure about India A because of backlash
 
Nobody's killing their cricket, they will still be involved .. with their ODIs and T20s.
Bangladesh has made progress at some level. But they are still way way behind where they should be. Yes they may not face competitive teams in the tier 2 They may ask "How will we improve if we don't face top teams". One option to deal with is India , Australia, England playing their A team
 
Test cricket is pinnacle of cricket so take care with top priority.

As an test cricket lover i want competitive test cricket not one sided series after series.

This is the reason why test cricket popularity is going down .

Jay shah is on the mission to save test cricket .

:kp
 
I think Pakistan will not lose their spot due to commercial reasons as it still has sizable following
But doesn't this debase the whole thing ?
In essence, this means it is not about sporting excellence, but rather just about money.

There can be no doubt that Aus, Ind, NZ and SA are Tier 1 on merit. One could debate whether England should be...maybe.

But in no way should Pakistan be Tier 1
 
But doesn't this debase the whole thing ?
In essence, this means it is not about sporting excellence, but rather just about money.

There can be no doubt that Aus, Ind, NZ and SA are Tier 1 on merit. One could debate whether England should be...maybe.

But in no way should Pakistan be Tier 1

Ya.. they probably can do . But they may do it one step at a time. I am just guessing. Let us see if they can implement this at all. Honestly no cricketing board in top tier will complain about it.
 
Some scoop for you

BCCI original plan to put Pak in div 2 but CA and ECB think it could look political.

BCCi happy to put in div 1 because Pakistan will get relegated soon anyway. India will not play Pakistan in proposed format. India thinks Pakistan board will be bankrupt soon so happy to wait.

Jay Shah pushing for cricket in Olympics. Long term plan for West Indies to be split into different countries. They can play Olympics and test in division 2 and newly created division 3 as separate nation. This is something Jay Shah working with West Indies for future.
 
I think Pakistan will not lose their spot due to commercial reasons as it still has sizable following
What commerical reason? Pakistan cricket stadium were empty during the home test cricket session.

Recently PCB was unable to secure a broadcasters deal for the Pakistan - England test series , at the last moment PCB find a broadcasters with peanut money .
 
What commerical reason? Pakistan cricket stadium were empty during the home test cricket session.

Recently PCB was unable to secure a broadcasters deal for the Pakistan - England test series , at the kast moment PCB find a broadcasters with peanut money .
True. May be the bank on expats showing up in their away tours. EIther that or they want to take it slow.
 
Once the tire system approved , Associate Members will gets more revenues to improve the infrastructure and other facilities.

@Rajdeep can you think what is the hidden story behind this ? Jay Shah is thinking about long term plan rather than upto 2027.

:kp
 
On what metric would Pakistan qualify as being "top tier" ?
On the metric that with the right pitches, Pakistan will remain a super competitive home team. Same goes for Sri Lanka.

The likes of England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will frequently lose in Pakistan and Sri Lanka so it is totally dumb to exclude Pakistan and Sri Lanka from the top tier.
 
On the metric that with the right pitches, Pakistan will remain a super competitive home team. Same goes for Sri Lanka.

The likes of England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will frequently lose in Pakistan and Sri Lanka so it is totally dumb to exclude Pakistan and Sri Lanka from the top tier.
Top 5 teams in ICC rankings automatically qualified for tier 1 system, no need to bother about it.

:kp
 

Two-tier Test cricket talk gains prominence​


Mumbai: The suggestion to break Test cricket into two tiers – Division 1 and 2 – has done the rounds for over a decade, but Australian newspaper ‘The Age’ reports that the matter is slated to be discussed between International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah and executives from Cricket Australia (CA) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) this month.

If these discussions prove fruitful, Test cricket could become an even more closed group than the current arrangement under the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The proposed idea places the top seven nations – Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in Division 1 and others – Bangladesh, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland – in Division 2.

More importantly, this would facilitate the Big Three (Australia, England and India) to play each other more frequently; that’s twice in three years, whereas under the present arrangement they meet every two years.

The matter was taken up at ICC level in 2016, but was shot down by many boards, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). At the time, BCCI’s clout in ICC was based on its benevolence, allowing the India team to tour smaller nations and boost their balance sheet.

With time, Test cricket’s commercial appeal further diminished outside the Big Three nations. Cricket South Africa openly prioritised it’s T20 league by shrinking its Test calendar. That this formula – winning short, sharp series – worked in their favour to make the World Test Championship (WTC) final over England and India, who lost steam their five-Test series in Australia 1-3, explains everything about the make-do WTC arrangement.

On the other end of the scale, the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series saw record attendance and new viewership records. The Boxing Day Test at Melbourne broke all records with 3,73,691 spectators attending. Australia’s Seven Network released data on Monday that their free-to-air coverage of the series reached a record 13.4 million people in Australia. The Ashes continues to remain a big draw in both England and Australia.

If two-tier Test cricket sees the light of day, the WTC idea could come to a premature end, after the 2025-27 cycle.

Despite losing money by the day, many cricket boards push to retain the Test-playing nation tag because of the financial structure of the ICC Board where the 12 Test nations get the major share of the revenue pie (almost 89%) while the 90-plus Associate nations take home what is left. Whether reworking the Test calendar would impact the revenue model will be watched.


BCCI, which will see a new secretary take over this week, is likely to approach the issue afresh. ICC did not offer any formal comment on the issue when contacted.
Nobody is talking about something important also has written in this article.

:kp
 
On what metric would Pakistan qualify as being "top tier" ?
You are reading too much in word "top". Use first tier and second tier.

Let's call it two ties - 7 in first tier and 5 in second tier.

In all eras, we had 3-4 good teams and 2-3 teams below them. Not much different than 7 teams in first tier right now.
 
It is bound to happen given the amount of T20 leagues going around. Then there is a world T20 every 2 years. world cup every 4 years. Now we have brought back CT. India has increased the number of tests against AUstralia and England. The ony way they can manage the schedule without overburning teams is to go for 2 tier.
 
Afghanistan/ WI / Bangladesh/ SL / Pak etc can play the test cricket with each other's . No one is killing Their cricket .

They are eventually matchup team's so test cricket will be only competitive .
I was expecting some humbleness after the recent losses against NZ & Australia.
 
It is bound to happen given the amount of T20 leagues going around. Then there is a world T20 every 2 years. world cup every 4 years. Now we have brought back CT. India has increased the number of tests against AUstralia and England. The ony way they can manage the schedule without overburning teams is to go for 2 tier.
Or the big teams can play their A teams against lesser teams. They have enough talent. Don’t they?
 
two tier is not an issue, two tier which is fundamentally unfair and keeps three teams in the top tier regardless of performance is the problem. in reality two six team tiers, each playing over two years with promotion and relegation makes a lot of sense. but what happens if aus, ind and eng are 4, 5, and 6 in tier 1, the 3rd ranking team being relegated is nonsense and a mockery of any sport.

a far better solution would be ICC arranging a test championship, each team plays each other one test home, one test away, two tiers of six teams, you play 5 ICC tests a year in a 2 year cycle, with a final at the end, and u can arrange all the bilaterals amongst other teams however u want.

on this platform you can have real merit and pak and india can play one of tests on neutral grounds. each test would have serious consequence and wouldnt hold an onerous load on any teams commitments. the big 3 can play 10 ICC tests over 2 years, and 10 tests between themselves every year.

it would also guarantee every team gets to play 5 tests a year.
 
Yes, it’s fine. With Pakistan in tier 2, Rizwan fans can finally anoint him King Of The Jobbers.
 
I like this idea.lets not pretend pcb, lanka, windies, saffers, bng interest on test matches. Even though sa qualified for wtc, they were happy to take off one test against India by having only 2 test. Series and leave that cash cow for limited formats. They sent an inexperienced squad to nz preferring t20 league .even though It's top 7 teams in first tier for now , i believe after one more filter top 3 will sustain and rest will drop out .If there won't be much incentive for second tier, they will stop test cricket all together.
 
Test cricket is pinnacle of cricket so take care with top priority.

As an test cricket lover i want competitive test cricket not one sided series after series.

This is the reason why test cricket popularity is going down .

Jay shah is on the mission to save test cricket .

:kp
Test cricket popularity is going down because of T20 cricket.I used to watch test cricket before T20 but now I don’t tine,patience or interest to watch a game for 4 or 5 days.
 
Two tier system already exists.Australia,India and England play more tests than other test nations.Personally I am not bothered if cricket is killed off in Pakistan.We should get into football.Have a proper football league of 20 teams like European countries.
 
What is the compensation for tier 2 teams like WI/Bang? Will the top teams like Aus still invite them for ODIs/T20s? I don't ever recall BD touring Eng/Aus even for T20s. How will tier 2 teams improve their rankings if they always play with each other?
 
Two tier system already exists.Australia,India and England play more tests than other test nations.Personally I am not bothered if cricket is killed off in Pakistan.We should get into football.Have a proper football league of 20 teams like European countries.
Going from 7 or 8 nation sports to 100 nation sports must be an easy gig lol
 
What is the compensation for tier 2 teams like WI/Bang? Will the top teams like Aus still invite them for ODIs/T20s? I don't ever recall BD touring Eng/Aus even for T20s. How will tier 2 teams improve their rankings if they always play with each other?
ODI championship will also be in plans so Bangladesh will get good ODI tours
 
South Africa makes the WTC final.

Result: We should have a "top" tier with India, Australia, and England.

:murali

A two-tier system is only valid if it includes more teams (5 minimum) with relegation/promotion for the bottom team each cycle.

If this is some nonsense where India, Australia, and England never get demoted then it's a farce.
 
South Africa makes the WTC final.

Result: We should have a "top" tier with India, Australia, and England.

:murali

A two-tier system is only valid if it includes more teams (5 minimum) with relegation/promotion for the bottom team each cycle.

If this is some nonsense where India, Australia, and England never get demoted then it's a farce.
It has 8 teams in top tier. They just mentioned big three will play more frequently against each other than now. Otherwise they will still play against Pakistan, SA, NZ. Only teams that will be relegated to 2nd tier are WI, BD, Afghanistan, SL
 
It has 8 teams in top tier. They just mentioned big three will play more frequently against each other than now. Otherwise they will still play against Pakistan, SA, NZ. Only teams that will be relegated to 2nd tier are WI, BD, Afghanistan, SL

That makes sense.

Probably can run a combination setup with the first tier having a WTC final. Every cycle the bottom team gets relegated and the top team from tier 2 gets promoted.

No one indeed wants to watch Tests between the top nations and the 2nd tier teams.
 
That makes sense.

Probably can run a combination setup with the first tier having a WTC final. Every cycle the bottom team gets relegated and the top team from tier 2 gets promoted.

No one indeed wants to watch Tests between the top nations and the 2nd tier teams.
I think existence of relegation system will determine where icc and respective second tier board interests lies.if there is no relegation, it means ultimately big 3 will settle with one group and rest all are happy to play limited formats. Do both tier teams play against each other or not? .apart from pcb, bcci bends backwards to every country for their control.so its very interesting if test matches are prohibited between both tiers. then bcci has to compensate bottom tier with more limited format matches
 
I actually back this now. There needs to be a strong kick up the back side for the bottom ranking teams to put their affairs and house in order. There should be financial share consequences for low ranking teams from the ICC as well.

A country like Pakistan cannot be allowed to routinely get away with being whitewashed in Australia and South Africa without consequences. I cannot think of another way to force the PCB to take these defeats seriously.

Completely agree but I feel in reality this will become a catalyst for PCB to give even less importance to red-ball cricket and PCT will just become a purely white-ball outfit at that point.
 
Overall, I think a 2-tier system will give the Big 3 what they want, and accelerate the death of Test cricket for all the other countries until they all basically become white-ball only teams.

If you're a 2nd-tier team and can only schedule Test series against other 2nd-tier teams then you are disincentivised from hosting any test cricket because a Pak vs SL series or Ban vs SA does not pull enough crowds to make money. All the 2nd-tier countries would much rather host white-ball bilaterals, random T20 leagues, and the odd ICC event.
 
6 teams in tier 1

1 Every team plays each other home and away once in a 3 year cycle
2 Every series minimum 3 tests which means on average of 30 tests for every team big 3 can have their marquee 5 tests series as they do now
3 the bottom ranked side gets relegated every cycle while the top tier 2 side gets promoted
The 25-27 ftp cycle determines the top six teams for tier 1

I think that’s the best method
 
Also if India and Pakistan are in the same tier then the India and Pakistan should be binded to compete atleast on neutral territory else this does not work
 
Tier 1:

1. Australia
2. England
3. India
4. New Zealand
5. Pakistan
6. South Africa
7. Sri Lanka
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Every team plays a minimum of 3 test against each other - big 3 can play 5 against each other, but only the first 3 matches count for points. Thats a total of 3 x 6 = 18 matches for everyone in the same 2-year cycle

Have a 3-match WTC final series

6 points for a win, 3 points for tie/draw/no-result, 0 points for a loss, no more of this percentage stuff (as the main account)

Bottom team - Automatically relegated?

6th place - relegation play-off?
 
BCCI, ECB and CA are money hungry boards.

I suspect they are going for reducing the cycle from 4 years to 3 years to play home and away once against each other.

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Right now it's a 4 years cycle and one year out of 4 years they have empty without playing other big 3. I think they may try to fill that with cutting the cycle from 4 years to 3 years. Host other big 3 one after another 2 years and then one year is left for other teams for hosting.

Big 3 don't play agaisnt other teams so frequently even now, but increasing the frequencies against each other will leave less time for other 4 countries in tier 1.

It's a bad news and not just a formalization of existing status as I thought earlier.

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Yes, good teams used play each other more often even in past, but 3 teams hogging the schedule means no 4th teams is going to play much against them. They will play against them once home and onece away in 6 years.

If my interpretation is currect then it's not a good news.
 
I think this is a great profit making and efficient move by ICC/BCCI. Test Cricket will eventually die a slow death except top 3. ODI will become the new "Test" Cricket and dominate with T20Is as we predicted earlier.

Test Cricket is technically solved even amongst big 3: that is, all of them will be almost unbeatable at home. There really is no fun in that as we already can guess the result years ahead.

I do feel BD slowly was getting better at Test Cricket, albeit too late and they are finally getting the boot they deserved.
 
I think this is a great profit making and efficient move by ICC/BCCI. Test Cricket will eventually die a slow death except top 3. ODI will become the new "Test" Cricket and dominate with T20Is as we predicted earlier.

Test Cricket is technically solved even amongst big 3: that is, all of them will be almost unbeatable at home. There really is no fun in that as we already can guess the result years ahead.

I do feel BD slowly was getting better at Test Cricket, albeit too late and they are finally getting the boot they deserved.


After thinking a bit, I think we may be going back to days when test was mainly generating eyeballs in series involving WI, Eng and Aus. Others were sideshows.

We saw SA sending C grade team to NZ for test. SA-Pak was played in front of empty seats. BGT had world record crowds at the same time. Contrast is visible. Most countries lose money hosting tests against non big 3 countries. Even CA ran into financial trouble during covid and needed Indian tour.

It seems we are going back to days of 3 teams keeping the test cricket going by generating eyeballs. It may end up with every 3 years marquee series happening twice. One home and one away. BGT, Ashes and Ind-Eng. Time to time we get other series. Hopefully, big 3 still play some series against tier 2. They will surely play some against others in tier 1.

When WI used to generate eyeballs then WI was playing in Aus frequently. Now very few watch WI-Aus series. Wi won't be invited to Aus so frequently. Historic momentum carried WI for a long time.


It will increase the test cricket depth in India, Aus and Eng, but weaken it for other countries. You can't get better without playing against good teams.
 
If Pakistan and India play each other in that system, I would be more than happy to see that system on.

I think Test cricket should not be experienced that much. Need to make it a bit difficult actually. Seeing 600-700 runs is not good.
 
Some of it were close matches even though score line makes it look one sided. Pakistan came close to winning a few times.

Yes, its a horrible looking score card, but main culprit has been poor batting to not able to get a draw in 20 tests. You can draw some tests here and there despite not winning. Pakistan had a chance to draw 2nd test in SA due to being a great batting surface but lost it in 1st go and left too much to do in 2nd go.
 
It seems we are going back to days of 3 teams keeping the test cricket going by generating eyeballs. It may end up with every 3 years marquee series happening twice. One home and one away. BGT, Ashes and Ind-Eng. Time to time we get other series. Hopefully, big 3 still play some series against tier 2. They will surely play some against others in tier 1.
I was checking for the minimum set of test matches for india per year this last decade. Total is 114 and almost 11 matches per year . So excluding 5 matches series against aus/eng, India have to play another 5 or 6 matches for improvement/test match fans appetite. 2 tier system is commercially driven to squeeze profits for top 3 teams .they have to be ruthless and top notch. Therefore top 3 may try to build a very good test team with specific skills.I think other teams in both tiers will be just acting like starters before main course.
 
It’s laughable Pakistani fans are getting so annoyed at this new suggested model we are a test playing nation where the main premier pacer is playing third class league in Bangladesh while his team is involved in a test series. Our board and its players no longer have test cricket as a priority it makes sense that teams that prioritise test cricket play each other more.
 
Placing Pakistan in Tier 2 without giving them an opportunity to play both home and away against India would be unfair. Pakistan has a strong enough team to defeat India. :inti
 
Placing Pakistan in Tier 2 without giving them an opportunity to play both home and away against India would be unfair. Pakistan has a strong enough team to defeat India. :inti
Yes same Pakistan team were refused to host bangladesh in the UAE because they were not worthy to host it there but when they did host them in pakistan , they were whitewashed by them

:kp
 
I am of the opinion that Pak has no appetite for test cricket except people who use social media or some part of overseas community so if they put us in division 2 & we don't have to play tests in Aus, RSA, or NZ nothing really changes for the general fan in Pak.

Test cricket is considered boring as a whole and T20 cricket is enough to keep the general populace happy. PSL fills up most centers while a test match has 400 people no matter who is playing it. Eng came to Pak & they reached a stage where tickets were being given for free yet still majority of the stadium was empty.

It will also reduce the load on domestic cricket where the 4 day tournament can be phased out and a more robust and longer white ball season can be scheduled. The tournament already is in doldrums and this year when it was at its peak & we were 'preparing' for a test series in RSA, they started a T20 tournament & named it Champions cup.

So whether we play test cricket or have a longer PSL window doesn't really matter that much at this point.

The second issue is more pressing & if the big 3 want to play 5 tests with each other every year that's up to them. To me it feels like an overkill & almost seems like diluting your product & lowering the prestige of the trophy. Hey Ind won the BGT by winning a thrilling series 2-1 & now three months later they have to defend it down under & then when they do it, there's another big series in six months.

The best thing about Ashes is that it's played after a while so you always have the appetite for it & it feels like an event. An ashes every year just makes it meh to me as a fan but then this is just me & my opinion.

If the finances match & they could sell it then why not.

Agree with this. I don't really follow test cricket any more and I think it's true of most Pakistan fans. Test cricket is for connoisseurs, if there is appetite in the Big 3 countries, they should play each other more.
 
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