Jay Shah, the newly elected chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), is pushing for a two-tier Test system, reports stated.
According to reports, the move follows a record attendance at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where India and Australia played five Test matches. The BGT was the most attended non-Ashes series in Australian cricket history, with 837,879 spectators filling the venue.
This was the fourth most attended series in the history of Australian cricket behind the Ashes series of 1936-37, 2017-18, and 1946-47.
On Monday, January 6, The Age newspaper claimed that Shah was leading the drive, along with cricket boards from India, Australia, and England, to host more showpiece Test series on the cricket calendar.
As per the report, the top teams in the current cricketing environment like India, Australia, England, South Africa, and New Zealand will play each other more in the 2-tier format. On the other hand, teams like Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and Ireland, who are yet to prove their Test status will form the lower tier of the plan.
This might include teams like Bangladesh and West Indies, who have not found success in Test cricket in the recent past.
This structure will pit top-tier teams against one another, while lower-tier clubs will only participate inside their division. It is unclear whether this system will contain provisions for promotion and relegation.
The notion of a two-tier Test format was mooted in 206 but was rejected by then-Indian cricket board president Anurag Thakur due to resistance from minor teams. Thakur has stated that the two-tier structure will disadvantage minor teams and be unfair to the spirit of cricket.
“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.
However, there is rising support from certain segments of the broadcasting industry, who want to become even more profitable than they already are. Ravi Shastri, commenting on the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, stated there was substance to the concept that large sides playing big teams would secure Test cricket's longevity.
“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. The top teams play against each other more often, so there is a contest; you want contests,” Shastri said on SEN during the final Test match of the series.
Possible teams in 2-tier structure:
1st Division- South Africa, Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
2nd Division- West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe
(India Today inputs)
