Test Championship and its intricacies
With the advent of ICC Test Championship, the Cricket Committee of the board will get together on the 28th and 29th of May to discuss the playing conditions of the World Test Championship.
The Championship commences right after the World Cup next year and the final of the competition will take place on the 10th of June in 2021 – spanning for a total of two years.
There will be some changes to rules in the Championship. Although they might not be large in number, they are quite significant. The committee for the Championship has Anil Kumble as the head and is thinking about making some changes on whether or not there will be a toss, the quality of pitch and the point system.
Some of the potential changes are outlined below.
Toss
The quality of pitches in international cricket often takes a hit to favour the home side. As a result, a radical solution is being thought out by the committee. Apparently, tosses could be scrapped altogether with the visiting team getting the option to choose whether to bat or bowl after judging the wicket.
According to the brief, which was caught hold of by ESPNCricinfo, the level of interference from the home side is a concern and giving the toss advantage to the visitors is seen as a way to curb the home advantage. However, some members of the committee do not agree to that view.
"There is serious concern about the current level of home team interference in Test pitch preparation, and more than one committee member believes that the toss should be automatically awarded to the visiting team in each match, although there are some others on the committee who do not share that view."
Day-night Tests
Only a few days ago, India flat-out refused to play a day-night Test against Australia at the Adelaide this year. In the Championship, however, the option of opting out of playing day-night pink-ball Test may no longer be there as playing under floodlights could be based on the decision of home board exclusively.
There is, however, a catch here as the document states that "the agreement of the touring team will be required" if the home side wants more than one day-night Test.
Points system
The committee has been asked by ICC to recommend whether the points will be allocated for both match and series results.
"It (cricket committee) will also recommend the appropriate weighting of a Draw compared to a Win," the statement read.
There were also talks of point penalties to be included for poor player behaviour and slow over rates but the documents dismissed it as "unlikely to be recommended."
Five-day Tests
All the Tests that will be played in the Championship will be five-days long. Also, there will be a minimum gap of three days between Tests.
Ball
There will not be many changes in this regard as the choice of the ball during the league phase of the Championship will be up to the home team. However, the ball for the final is “likely” to be chosen by the country in which it will take place.
Unfit pitches
This is where there could be the most radical change as there is a scope of the home side losing a match on the basis of the pitch condition. If the pitch is deemed as unfit to play, then the visiting side could be given the win.
"If a match is abandoned because the pitch or outfield is too dangerous for play to continue, and the pitch is subsequently rated as UNFIT by the match referee, the match will be considered to have been won by the visiting team when the competition points are allocated for that series."
While these are only reported potential changes that are being discussed, there is a chance for some of them to be actually implemented.
