“In a world of infinite choice, context―not content―is king.”
Taking the words of Chris Anderson quite seriously, the International Cricket Council announced the idea of the Test Championship in a bid to introduce “context” to the boring five-day games that have gone from being the pinnacle of the sport to merely existing. While teams have a definite four-year goal in place for the ODIs as well as the T20Is, the Tests, sans a greater prize than the Test Mace, remains in the back burners, with empty stadiums and flagging interests becoming the norm.
The ceremony of handing over the Test Mace that is awarded to the top-ranked Test team after a year is usually held sans any pomp and the criteria to award a team with the sole position remains debatable. The Indian cricket team retained the Test Mace earlier this year, but with Virat Kohli’s boys playing England, Bangladesh, Australia and Sri Lanka at home last season, the award lost its significance. As soon as the team toured South Africa, their woes returned to haunt them and with tours to England and Australia coming up, it remains no secret that the prize is most likely to elude them in 2019.
This is where the Test Championship will work. The ultimate prize will be achieved after a side plays six series over a two year gap. Nine teams (excluding Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan) will play three series at home and three away, with the top-four being decided by a points system. The finalists will then converge to play for the title of the World Championship in June 2021. With an equal distribution of away and home series, the chalked out plan seems fair. The Championship winners will be a side who has aced all conditions en route the ultimate glory, unlike the current system of the Mace, which does not take into account the conditions nor the rivals.
The primary reason why Martin Crowe propagated the idea was to allow the cricket fanatics an opportunity to participate more in the game. Test cricket was undoubtedly at its peak when the stalwarts of the game were still in attendance, but once the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacques Kallis bid adieu, their respective teams fell into disarray. The ‘transition phase’ stole away all the limelight from the Golden Era of Cricket and the result was that cricket stadiums on most occasions were only filled with the cacophonies of the opponents.
With teams losing their skills, matches hardly last five days. As lop-sided encounters have gained momentum, fans too hesitate to travel to watch a game unless the series in question is the Ashes or it involves India. Broadcasters, who have bet their money on a five-day game, lose out if the match ends before, as it so recently happened with India decimating Afghanistan in less than two days. The Test Championship, however, promises to change all that as even a series against West Indies and Sri Lanka will culminate towards a greater result. Each hour and each session will account towards the final tally and this is where the whole concept of “context” will seep in.
With more crowd support, the revenue around the game is sure to pick up, and the central board can distribute the finances equally amongst the host nations. Members need not fret over the expenses incurred over the DRS then, as the viscous cycle of inflow and outflow of cash will remain constant. But before the Championship does gain flight after the World Cup next year, there are a few glaring problems that the ICC will need to take care of.
In the past, a number of associations have been guilty of tweaking the condition of the pitch according to their strengths. With each series bearing importance in the Championship, this practice can gain an untoward angle with curators in Asia dishing out rank-turners constantly and the ones abroad preparing green tops. While the beauty of cricket lies in adapting to the different surroundings quickly, the appointment of an ICC-approved curator will ensure that the track contains all the traditional characteristics but in measure.
Another area of concern remains the point system. Some teams might take a lead of 150 runs, while others might gain an advantage of just three. Will the point system work according to how dominating the said team has been or allocate a fixed number of points for any lead gained, even if it is a slender one? If the latter does pan out, teams will be satisfied to settle for a draw, instead of going all out for a convincing performance. Over time, this will lead to a degradation of the quality of Test matches, and while the “context” will still be present, the content would have suffered.
Away series wins should hold more weightage, if the ICC is really intent on finding a team who are truly deserving of the crown. Unlike in football, where the pitch hardly affects the game of play, playing on seaming wickets for a team used to the slow dust bowls is a huge challenge of adaptability. Likewise, for sides accustomed to the consistent bounce abroad, the slow bounce in Asia is an altogether different challenge to navigate and when adjudicating the points, this should be of utmost importance.
Scheduling too will need to be done right, as matches in India around June-July will be at a greater possibility of being washed away. The last thing that the tournament needs is a team falling prey to the whims of nature, which will cause sides to unfairly progress or crash out.