New WTC Cycles

[cricketnut14]

Looks like the new FTP for the WTC come out later this week for both the 2023-25 and 2025-27 cycles.

Basically moving towards 2 test series and the occasional 3 test series.

It's Australia, England and India that play 5 against each other.

Still plenty of flaws in it, but guess we have to accept it.

So this will now mean 4 cycles completed (8 years).

Each cycle has contained Australia, India and England playing each other once in each cycle.

What we haven't seen in the 8 years is:
No promotion/relegation - Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland (Bangladesh could finish last for the 2nd cycle running).
No India v Pakistan series

Australia host Sri Lanka
Bangladesh host England
South Africa host New Zealand
West Indies host New Zealand

Bangladesh host Australia - although this was scheduled in the first cycle and Australia cancelled the tour (Covid).

Surely over a 8 year period where each team hosts 12 home series and 12 away series, they could play the 8 opposition sides at least once home and away.

Are Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland getting left behind - who is going to play them - possibly some one off tests, or maybe they'll play each other and just get plenty of white ball cricket exposure.

 

[Seedsfan]

Two test series are rubbish, shame on cricket

 

[cricketnut14]

Two test series are rubbish, sh

well the crammed 20/20 schedule has effectively done this to test cricket.

the WTC concept is right but they just haven't nailed it.


all test series should be a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 tests at the discretion of the cricket boards.
i'll probably get shot down for that, for those who still want a 5 test ashes series.

i mean lets face it the only other 5 test series are eng v ind and aust v ind (which is only just being introduced again). these could stay iconic as 4 test series.

by hosting 2 nations every home summer and doing 2 winter tours - you could play all 8 opposition teams in the WTC once, making everyone play each other more evenly.

eg. aussie home summer:
season 1; england (4) bangladesh (3)
season 2; south africa (3) new zealand (3) - possibly host a 1 off against a minnow if the schedule allows it

season 3: india (4) sri lanka (3)
season 4; pakistan (3) west indies (3) - possibly host a 1 off against a minnow if the schedule allows it or even in darwin just before the summer starts as effectively a warm up match for the summer.

so basically in a WTC cycle aust/eng/ind would play 26 tests and all the others play 24.

maybe it's time for all white ball cricket to be domestic/franchise stuff and only play a world cup of odi's and 20/20.
maybe if international white ball cricket ceased this would be a possibility.
and if this was the only way to play for your country other than world cups, then who knows.


the WTC cycles have us playing 5 home tests over the next 5 summers (we either have england or india for a full 5 or 2 countries splitting it 3/2) - so no more hobart ? surely perth can't keep getting bent over.

end of the day england have hosted 7 tests each summer for the last 20 years until the last year or so.

 

[Seedsfan]

well the crammed 20/20 schedule has effectively done this to test cricket.

the WTC concept is right but they just haven't nailed it.


all test series should be a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 tests at the discretion of the cricket boards.
i'll probably get shot down for that, for those who still want a 5 test ashes series.

i mean lets face it the only other 5 test series are eng v ind and aust v ind (which is only just being introduced again). these could stay iconic as 4 test series.

by hosting 2 nations every home summer and doing 2 winter tours - you could play all 8 opposition teams in the WTC once, making everyone play each other more evenly.

eg. aussie home summer:
season 1; england (4) bangladesh (3)
season 2; south africa (3) new zealand (3) - possibly host a 1 off against a minnow if the schedule allows it

season 3: india (4) sri lanka (3)
season 4; pakistan (3) west indies (3) - possibly host a 1 off against a minnow if the schedule allows it or even in darwin just before the summer starts as effectively a warm up match for the summer.

so basically in a WTC cycle aust/eng/ind would play 26 tests and all the others play 24.

maybe it's time for all white ball cricket to be domestic/franchise stuff and only play a world cup of odi's and 20/20.
maybe if international white ball cricket ceased this would be a possibility.
and if this was the only way to play for your country other than world cups, then who knows.


the WTC cycles have us playing 5 home tests over the next 5 summers (we either have england or india for a full 5 or 2 countries splitting it 3/2) - so no more hobart ? surely perth can't keep getting bent over.

end of the day england have hosted 7 tests each summer for the last 20 years until the last year or so.

I have always preferred 3 or 5 test series never been a fan of even numbers. Although I do take you point 7 tests over the summer is the best set up and you need 3 and 4 test series for that to work.

 

[Sammo360]

Are Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland getting left behind - who is going to play them - possibly some one off tests, or maybe they'll play each other and just get plenty of white ball cricket exposure.

20 Tests each for Zimbabwe and Afghanistan which isn't too bad although they are playing alot amongst themselves. Only 12 for Ireland, but that's still a big improvement.

ICC FTP: Bangladesh land Test and ODI jackpot in 2023-2027 cycle

They play 34 Tests, 59 ODIs and 51 T20Is in the next four years; only West Indies have more games slotted in this period

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[cricketnut14]

20 Tests each for Zimbabwe and Afghanistan which isn't too bad although they are playing alot amongst themselves. Only 12 for Ireland, but that's still a big improvement.

ICC FTP: Bangladesh land Test and ODI jackpot in 2023-2027 cycle

They play 34 Tests, 59 ODIs and 51 T20Is in the next four years; only West Indies have more games slotted in this period

www.espncricinfo.com

it's whether they all go ahead or not i guess.

so the aussies play afghanistan in a one off test.

we tried here in perth in 2020/21 and again in hobart in 2021/22 and supposed to play them in september 2022 which isn't happening.

i'd be interested to know if it's in australia or an additional test on a tour of india or something.

 

[cricketnut14]

20 Tests each for Zimbabwe and Afghanistan which isn't too bad although they are playing alot amongst themselves. Only 12 for Ireland, but that's still a big improvement.

ICC FTP: Bangladesh land Test and ODI jackpot in 2023-2027 cycle

They play 34 Tests, 59 ODIs and 51 T20Is in the next four years; only West Indies have more games slotted in this period

www.espncricinfo.com

TESTS OUTSIDE THE WTC:

10 BANGLADESH - what the!
3 NEW ZEALAND
2 SRI LANKA
2 SOUTH AFRICA
1 INDIA
1 AUSTRALIA
0 ENGLAND
0 WEST INDIES
0 PAKISTAN

 

[HODGEYROAD]

TESTS OUTSIDE THE WTC:

10 BANGLADESH - what the!
3 NEW ZEALAND
2 SRI LANKA
2 SOUTH AFRICA
1 INDIA
1 AUSTRALIA
0 ENGLAND
0 WEST INDIES
0 PAKISTAN

Who's our test against outside of the WTC ?

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Looks like the new FTP for the WTC come out later this week for both the 2023-25 and 2025-27 cycles.

Basically moving towards 2 test series and the occasional 3 test series.

It's Australia, England and India that play 5 against each other.

Still plenty of flaws in it, but guess we have to accept it.

So this will now mean 4 cycles completed (8 years).

Each cycle has contained Australia, India and England playing each other once in each cycle.

What we haven't seen in the 8 years is:
No promotion/relegation - Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland (Bangladesh could finish last for the 2nd cycle running).
No India v Pakistan series

Australia host Sri Lanka
Bangladesh host England
South Africa host New Zealand
West Indies host New Zealand

Bangladesh host Australia - although this was scheduled in the first cycle and Australia cancelled the tour (Covid).

Surely over a 8 year period where each team hosts 12 home series and 12 away series, they could play the 8 opposition sides at least once home and away.

Are Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland getting left behind - who is going to play them - possibly some one off tests, or maybe they'll play each other and just get plenty of white ball cricket exposure.

This is the one that does my head in the most, an India vs Pakistan test series would be absolutely as exciting as * at the moment.

Because we're soft with COVID it'll mean about a 7 year gap touring SAF 2018 to 2025 ?

We finally go to the West Indies again in 2025 ? Wild that'll be a 9 year gap or so between tours of that Caribbean.

 

[cricketnut14]

We finally go to the West Indies again in 2025 ? Wild that'll be a 9 year gap or so between tours of that Caribbean.

make it 10 years - last time we toured there was 2015.



half of our test cricket now is against england and india (20 of 40).

basically australia's 4 year cycle is:

both home & away:
england 5
india 5
2 countries 2/3
2 countries 2/3

and that's why we won't see some teams for 6+ years.

 

[corbies]

Who's our test against outside of the WTC ?

Afghanistan. We'll find a way out of it and replace it with a 5-match T20 series v India or Sri Lanka.

 

[ashley12]

WTC would be better as a 16 team knockout format of 3 Test Series. Have ~9 months window to book in the series depending on which country is hosting. 4 rounds over 3 years.

First round winning nations go into the QFs and Losing nations into the losers brackets.

Winners play out a standard bracket.

Losers play a secondary round. Losers of that (4 teams) then play a relegation series. The two teams that lose three series are relegated for the next cycle (replace by two associate teams in their own league/series).

Creating more of a knockout format rather than league will generate more interest in the games worldwide than a generic Bangladesh Vs Sri Lanka series when both teams are already out of contention.

Plenty of space around this style of WTC to have other tours and T20 comps etc...

 

[to1994]

Pretty disappointing. The gap between the Big 3 and other teams will just continue to widen.

When Kohli toured England early in his career he was terrible, he was worked out pretty easily but he went back a few years later and rectified it.

Batsmen playing for smaller Cricket Boards can no longer do this. They tour a country once, the next time they tour their career is probably over as a decade has passed.

What's the point at the stage? They barely get a chance to play tour matches and then everyone complains about weak opposition. The solution always seems to be "Let's get India again, that was a great series last time".

Only thing I can see saving Test Cricket in the long term is the bubble bursting on IPL and some smarter people figuring out how to maximise revenue on a 5-Day Game. Surely it's not that hard as I'm not convinced the interest isn't there, people just don't necessary tune in all of the 5-Days.

 

[cricketnut14]

Only thing I can see saving Test Cricket in the long term is the bubble bursting on IPL and some smarter people figuring out how to maximise revenue on a 5-Day Game. Surely it's not that hard as I'm not convinced the interest isn't there, people just don't necessary tune in all of the 5-Days.

if one format has to go sadly it has to be odi's. let's free up some time in the calendar and possibly some of these 2 test series could even become 3.

the odi's are now meaningless and most teams don't even pick their best XI - resting players etc. , possibly a reason of dwindling crowds etc.

australia playing odi's in august-september in townsville is a far cry of packed stadium of years ago.

the odi world cup however seems to still be quite popular when that comes round.

the 20/20 franchise leagues etc is where the money is at unfortunately.

i think moving forward test cricket and 20/20's can work.

 

[Cleavy]

Expanded India series, more tours for Aussies in new FTP | cricket.com.au

Five-Test series against India puts the Border-Gavaskar on par with the Ashes while an expanded…

www.cricket.com.au

It's a shame that series vs West Indies are now 2 Tests

 

[Westend]

FTP in detail: When do the Aussie men play each country? | cricket.com.au

A country-by-country breakdown of Australia's men's bilateral fixtures from now until the end of the…

www.cricket.com.au

 

[magpiemaniac44]

Just having a look, the 2026/27 summer will be quite strange
1 home test vs Afghanistan in August presumably in Darwin
3 home tests vs NZ in December/January presumably in Melbourne, Sydney and somewhere else.
We then head to India in January for 5 tests, before coming back to host 2 tests against Bangladesh in March
Can't imagine tests against Bangladesh in March would be a big crowd puller, feel bad for the city that has to host it.

It means in the normal home test period we only play 3 home tests

I feel like we have a pretty even spread amongst the countries and play and good to see we will finally play tests in Wi, South Africa and NZ again in the next few cycles

 

[corbies]

Just having a look, the 2026/27 summer will be quite strange
1 home test vs Afghanistan in August presumably in Darwin
3 home tests vs NZ in December/January presumably in Melbourne, Sydney and somewhere else.
We then head to India in January for 5 tests, before coming back to host 2 tests against Bangladesh in March
Can't imagine tests against Bangladesh in March would be a big crowd puller, feel bad for the city that has to host it.

It means in the normal home test period we only play 3 home tests

I feel like we have a pretty even spread amongst the countries and play and good to see we will finally play tests in Wi, South Africa and NZ again in the next few cycles

Poor them. They should get to host England and India again for the 7000th time.

 

[Cleavy]

Just having a look, the 2026/27 summer will be quite strange
1 home test vs Afghanistan in August presumably in Darwin
3 home tests vs NZ in December/January presumably in Melbourne, Sydney and somewhere else.
We then head to India in January for 5 tests, before coming back to host 2 tests against Bangladesh in March
Can't imagine tests against Bangladesh in March would be a big crowd puller, feel bad for the city that has to host it.

It means in the normal home test period we only play 3 home tests

CA won't be making any money that summer

 

[magpiemaniac44]

Poor them. They should get to host England and India again for the 7000th time.

If it was at least in the summer it wouldn't be too bad a crowd, but its going to be played when all local cricket is finishing up or finished, and footy season is starting.

 

[cricketnut14]

australia's white ball cricket (odi's/T20)

v south africa 11/6
v england 8/8
v india 6/10
v pakistan 6/6
v west indies 6/3
v bang 6/3
v new zealand 0/6
v afghanistan 0/6
v ireland 3/1
v zimbabwe 0/0
v sri lanka 0/0

interesting to see the chappell-hadlee odi series a thing of the past it seems.

no white ball cricket v sri lanka or zimbabwe unless in odi world cup, champions trophy, T20 world cup.

 

[cricketnut14]

interesting to note no country hosts more than 4 tests per their international summer other than australia/england/india

one anomoly:
note: there is a home summer for south africa where they have NO test cricket, but the following summer they play 8 home tests.

australia 5,5,5,6 (which is a longer summer and includes afghanistan and bangladesh)
india 5,5,5,5
england 6 (1 v ire), 5, 5, 6

 

[cricketnut14]

england also sneaking in an extra 'TEST' series not a part of the WTC against new zealand in new zealand in a few months time.


surely jimmy anderson cannot get to 200 tests !

by the same token it will take babar azam till the age of 34 to reach 100 tests.

 

[PhatBoy]

What an utter ******* shitshow the ICC is.

Thanks for f***ing test cricket with no lube, cvn+s

 

[ioppolo]

england also sneaking in an extra 'TEST' series not a part of the WTC against new zealand in new zealand in a few months time.


surely jimmy anderson cannot get to 200 tests !

by the same token it will take babar azam till the age of 34 to reach 100 tests.

Jimmy Anderson has played regular test cricket for almost 20 years. England play more tests than anyone and he's as durable a player I've seen since Tendulkar (probably more so given he's a fast bowler!).
Incredible career.