Discussions are reportedly set to get underway regarding a two-tiered Test cricket system. Australia, India, England, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are involved in these talks. The goal is to increase the frequency of matches between these top three cricketing nations.
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According to a report from The Sydney Morning Herald, key figures from these cricketing bodies are scheduled to meet later this month. ICC Chairman Jay Shah, whois also the former BCCI secretary, Cricket Australia Chair Mike Baird, and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief Richard Thompson will convene later this month. The two-tier structure for Test cricket is a significant item on their agenda.
The recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, won 3-1 by Australia, has fuelled these discussions. The series saw impressive crowd attendance and broadcast viewership.
The idea has been given further impetus by enormous crowds and broadcast audiences for Australia’s five matches against India. It became the fourth-best attended series ever in Australia and reportedly the most-watched Test series ever.
The proposed two-tier system wouldn’t be implemented until after the current Future Tours Program concludes in 2027. Coincidentally, 2027 also marks the 150th anniversary of Test matches between Australia and England, with a celebratory match planned at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
If adopted, this two-tier system would significantly alter the landscape of Test cricket. Australia, England, and India could potentially play each other twice every three years, as opposed to the current schedule of every four years.
This concept isn’t new. A two-tier system was previously proposed during an ICC Board meeting in 2016. The initial proposal outlined a division of seven nations in the first tier and five in the second.
However, the proposal was shelved due to opposition from several cricketing boards. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) all voted against the proposal.
“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 had 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,” Thakur had added.
The implementation of a two-tier system could have broader ramifications for the future of Test cricket. Despite providing more context to the longer format of the game since its inception in 2019, the World Test Championship might only run for one more cycle under the new structure.
