View Full Version : Test Cricket not in it's healthiest state: Ponting
OzBomber
8 Jul 2008, 14:23
Ponting concerned over Test Future (http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/360302.html)
Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, believes that Test cricket isn't in a healthy state and that international players have a duty to provide entertaining matches to ensure its future in the wake of Twenty20's popularity.
Speaking to Cricinfo SportsCenter after returning home from Australia's undefeated tour of the West Indies, Ponting added that he'd be open to the proposed tournament-style Test world championship, but would reserve judgment until he'd seen its format.
I'm guessing if there is a test championship, then we'd have to scrap all other test series. How many tests would you need to play against other countries?
like it. get rid of Pakistan and India, add in two minnows, like the Banglas and Zimbabwe. two groups of four, split Aus and NZ up, England and WI up, SA and Zimbabwe and finally SL and Banglas. so it would look something like this:
Group A
Australia
South Africa
West Indies
Bangladesh
Group B
New Zealand
England
Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka
OzBomber
8 Jul 2008, 14:58
like it. get rid of Pakistan and India, add in two minnows, like the Banglas and Zimbabwe. two groups of four, split Aus and NZ up, England and WI up, SA and Zimbabwe and finally SL and Banglas. so it would look something like this:
Group A
Australia
South Africa
West Indies
Bangladesh
Group B
New Zealand
England
Zimbabwe
Sri LankaGroup B looks like the group of death. That first one would be easy for us.
Bond,ShaneBond
8 Jul 2008, 15:03
like it. get rid of Pakistan and India, add in two minnows, like the Banglas and Zimbabwe. two groups of four, split Aus and NZ up, England and WI up, SA and Zimbabwe and finally SL and Banglas. so it would look something like this:
Group A
Australia
South Africa
West Indies
Bangladesh
Group B
New Zealand
England
Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka
http://pandadan.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/idiot-41423.jpg
Blue Dimension
8 Jul 2008, 16:12
I think when you have a tournament style format, series like the Ashes between Aus and England will still need to be incorporated or run seperately. Otherwise everything will just be even worse off in the long run.
like it. get rid of Pakistan and India, add in two minnows, like the Banglas and Zimbabwe. two groups of four, split Aus and NZ up, England and WI up, SA and Zimbabwe and finally SL and Banglas. so it would look something like this:
Group A
Australia
South Africa
West Indies
Bangladesh
Group B
New Zealand
England
Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka
madness !!!!!!
why are the groups split and why have you split them that way?
why are pakistan and india not included ?
where are these matches gonna be played? and how many?
test matches should NEVER be played on neutral territory.
maybe i'll put together a test championship :D
ok, here goes
year 1:
nov: aust host bang
dec-jan: aust host eng
dec: sth af host bang
jan-feb: sth af host pak
feb: nz host eng
mar-apr: nz host sth af
mar: wi host sl
apr: wi host pak
may-jun: eng host sth af
jun-jul: eng host sl
aug: bang host ind
sept: bang host nz
aug: sl host wi
sept: sl host aust
sept: ind host wi
oct: ind host aust
oct: pak host nz
nov: pak host ind
year 2:
nov-dec: aust host pak
dec-jan: aust host sth af
jan: nz host pak
feb-mar: nz host aust
feb-mar: sth af host ind
apr: sth af host sl
apr-may: wi host ind
jun: wi host sth af
may-jun: eng host aust
jul: eng host bang
aug: bang host sl
sep: bang host wi
sept-oct: ind host eng
oct: ind host nz
oct: pak host wi
nov: pak host eng
oct: sl host bang
nov: sl host nz
year 3:
nov-dec: aust host sl
dec-jan: aust host ind
jan-feb: nz host sl
feb-mar: nz host wi
jan-feb: sth af host wi
feb-mar: sth af host aust
mar-apr: wi host nz
apr-may: wi host aust
may-jun: eng host nz
jun-jul: eng host ind
aug: bang host pak
sept: bang host eng
sept: sl host pak
oct: sl host eng
oct: pak host sth af
nov: pak host bang
oct: ind host bang
nov: ind host sth af
year 4:
nov-dec: aust host nz
dec-jan: aust host wi
jan: sth af host nz
feb-mar: sth af host eng
feb: nz host bang
mar: nz host ind
mar-apr: wi host eng
may: wi host bang
may-jun: eng host wi
jul: eng host pak
aug: ind host sl
sept: ind host pak
sept: sl host sth af
oct: sl host ind
sept: bang host aust
oct: bang host sth af
oct: pak host aust
nov: pak host sl
*advantages
everyone plays everyone home and away once in this cycle
less tours for everyone
only bi-lateral series
tours closer together
longer breaks
no zimbabwe included
any other matches against associates would need to be organised between the countries interested.
you could still play asia cup, icc champs trophy, 20/20 world c'ships and world cup.
perhaps you could have a grand final after the 4 year cycle finishes.....top team hosts it and 2nd place team chooses the venue in that country?
the only drawback for the test c'ship, you would need to play each other in the same amount of tests. would all tours then need to be 3 tests, 5 odi's and a 20/20. each country hosts 2 teams per summer.
ok, somebody shoot me down :D
The best way would be to scrap all current series and divide it into 2 divisions of 5.
So on current rankings
DIV 1
Aus
India
England
Sth Af
SRI lanka
DIV 2
Pak
NZ
WI
bang
ZIm or kenya
then each team plays each team in a 3 test series home and away over 2 years
So AUS would host say ENG and SA one year then tour IND and SRI then the next season host IND and SRI and tour ENg and SA th next.
your get 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw and the top 2 teams play off for the world championship every 2 years.
Meanwhile the bottom div 1 team goes down to div 2 and the top div 2 team comes up.
You could also have the 4th placed div 1 team play off against the second placed div 2 team with the loser going down.
You could still have the ashes etc but juz play it when the teams meet in the league.
2 divs are needed to keep games competitive and to keep up interest through the whole 2 years as most teams would be in either contention for the final/promotion or fighting relegation.
The best way would be to scrap all current series and divide it into 2 divisions of 5.
So on current rankings
DIV 1
Aus
India
England
Sth Af
SRI lanka
DIV 2
Pak
NZ
WI
bang
ZIm or kenya
then each team plays each team in a 3 test series home and away over 2 years
So AUS would host say ENG and SA one year then tour IND and SRI then the next season host IND and SRI and tour ENg and SA th next.
your get 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw and the top 2 teams play off for the world championship every 2 years.
Meanwhile the bottom div 1 team goes down to div 2 and the top div 2 team comes up.
You could also have the 4th placed div 1 team play off against the second placed div 2 team with the loser going down.
You could still have the ashes etc but juz play it when the teams meet in the league.
2 divs are needed to keep games competitive and to keep up interest through the whole 2 years as most teams would be in either contention for the final/promotion or fighting relegation.
thats all well and good but odi's and 20/20's haven't been incorporated into it ???
2 divisions aren't needed for your reasoning. how can div 2 be competitive when it'll just be a 2-3 horse race all the time?
I don't really think that Bangladesh/Zimbabwe warrant inclusion. Bangladesh may eventually, but, at the moment, neither are Test-class.
OzBomber
8 Jul 2008, 19:12
Bad thing about a test championship is that we'd have to scrap the 5 tests in the Ashes. That would be a shame.
LIONS then DAYLIGHT
8 Jul 2008, 21:02
A test championship IMO wouldn't do much for the state of test cricket.
During the recent Windies series there were moments of excitment during the tests but you always felt that there was a sense that Australia would win, just by how much was another question.
I was surprised to hear the West Indian first class season only invovles 6 games per a side. How can the West Indies do any good with that set-up? They can't. Have a look at our set-up. That is why we are so good. Having a test championship wouldn't do anything for teams like NZ, West Indies and to a lesser degree Pakistan. Some of the shots the West Indies played were very poor, as well as that you had players getting stumped for forgetting to go back to the crease, you had the last 5 batsme falling for 40 odd runs nearly every innings.
These sides need a good FC game to be successful, at the moment, Australia, England, India and South Africa are the teams we want to play, they are teams which create excitement. It is such a shame to see the Windies in their current state, one step forward seems to be followed by 2 steps backward, you have to admire fans that keep turning up to watch the west indies .
thats all well and good but odi's and 20/20's haven't been incorporated into it ???
2 divisions aren't needed for your reasoning. how can div 2 be competitive when it'll just be a 2-3 horse race all the time?
Just play one-dayers and 20/20 against who evers touring or around at the time doesnt mean anything anyway. They have a world cup already.
and ur right about div 2 but bangladesh have more chance against the the lower teams than the top 5.
I dont see the the point of Aus playing any of the bottom five teams its juz a mismatch.
without divisions it would be over half way through as far as the top 2 goes and most of the games would mean nothing like they do now.
A test championship IMO wouldn't do much for the state of test cricket.
During the recent Windies series there were moments of excitment during the tests but you always felt that there was a sense that Australia would win, just by how much was another question.
I was surprised to hear the West Indian first class season only invovles 6 games per a side. How can the West Indies do any good with that set-up? They can't. Have a look at our set-up. That is why we are so good. Having a test championship wouldn't do anything for teams like NZ, West Indies and to a lesser degree Pakistan. Some of the shots the West Indies played were very poor, as well as that you had players getting stumped for forgetting to go back to the crease, you had the last 5 batsme falling for 40 odd runs nearly every innings.
These sides need a good FC game to be successful, at the moment, Australia, England, India and South Africa are the teams we want to play, they are teams which create excitement. It is such a shame to see the Windies in their current state, one step forward seems to be followed by 2 steps backward, you have to admire fans that keep turning up to watch the west indies .
Bang on.
It's no surprise that the best teams in the world are the ones with the best domestic structure. New Zealand and the West Indies have a shambolic domestic structure - the Windies don't play enough and the Kiwis play on awful pitches for the most part which leave them with far too many one-dimensional players.
Australia will never become one of the poorer sides in the world simply because our infrastructure is too good. The Windies, when they don't have those "once in a generation players" coming through or when they convert to other sports, struggle because their players don't play anywhere near enough cricket.
LIONS then DAYLIGHT
10 Jul 2008, 19:25
The ICC should IMO make a international domestic comp if that makes sense.
Maybe the 2 best domestic West Indies sides can play off against New Zealand, Pakistan and Australian domestic sides in a round robin type tournament in different countries on a periodic basis.
Prize Money can be on offer to the winning country's cricket board as well as player winnings. This would be a great way to ensure that the best domestic teams from each country can play each other in different conditions to further develop talent which can be funnelled into national sides.
Surely this could only be a positive move by the ICC, it would have to be a combination of 4 day games and one dayers, a 20/20 cup won't do anything.
Some great cricket would also be played, with big prize money on offer for the winning board as well as the players, maybe 2 divisions could be created, Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere, the ICC needs to do something about the poor state of first class cricket in countries such as the West Indies and New Zealand, this move would give these players great experience in varying conditions against the best domestic sides with big money on offer.