Flawed' WTC reveals world cricket's underlying problems
Temba Bavuma and Pat Cummins are ready for the World Test Championship final
Reigning champions Australia face South Africa in the World Test Championship final at Lord's from Wednesday amid a chorus of criticism over the competition's format.
Wisden, cricket's 'bible', was scathing in its assessment, with editor Lawrence Booth writing in this year's edition that the WTC is a "shambles masquerading as a showpiece".
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Former England captain Michael Atherton said "everyone knows the WTC in its present guise is flawed".
One fundamental problem is that political tensions mean India and Pakistan, two of cricket's leading nations, have not played a Test against each other since 2007.
The nine-nation WTC is further skewed because the teams are not all required to face each other or to play the same number of matches.
Countries are free to decide how many Tests they want to play in the two-year qualifying cycle and positions are calculated based on the percentage of available points won by teams.
South Africa have played just 12 Tests in the current cycle -- all of them two-match series -- compared to England's 22 -- and have not played either England or Australia.
South Africa also sent a weakened side to New Zealand in early 2024, and lost, with the best players staying at home to appear in the domestic T20 competition -- a sign of the times in modern cricket.
Booth wants the cycle doubled to four years, with teams playing each other home and away over series that last at least three Tests.
- 'Nobodies' -
South Africa reeled off six straight wins to book their place in this year's final, only for former England captain Michael Vaughan to say they had got there "on the back of beating pretty much nobody".
But Proteas coach Shukri Conrad objected that South Africa had beaten teams who had beaten the 'Big Three' of India, Australia and England.
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"One of the nobodies we beat won a Test match in Australia -- West Indies beat Australia in a Test match. They are not nobody," insisted Conrad.
"New Zealand beat India, three-zip in India. New Zealand is not a nobody.
"Sri Lanka won Test matches (against England and New Zealand). I don't buy this thing about us beating nobody."
Victory in the final in London would be a huge boost to South Africa following years of near-misses in ICC white-ball tournaments.
"It's the biggest thing for South African cricket at the moment," said Conrad.
One of those involved in devising the points system, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP it was tricky to come up with a workable format.
"It's difficult to come up with a solution where everyone is happy given the barriers to an orthodox table that exist, such as the India-Pakistan situation," he said.
"Commercial considerations will also mean the 'Big Three' will want to play each other in five-Test series."
But the WTC, set up to boost Test cricket's profile in an era of many competing formats, matters to players and fans.
New Zealand's win in the inaugural 2021 World Test Championship final was welcomed as a long-overdue global triumph for a popular side.
Australia's failure to qualify for that match was labelled a "big missed opportunity" by skipper Pat Cummins, who made amends with victory in an Oval final two years ago.
That India were beaten finalists in both 2021 and 2023 indicated there is still a place for the five-day game in world cricket's economic powerhouse, where Twenty20 cricket holds sway.
Former India captain Virat Kohli, speaking after securing his long-awaited first Indian Premier League title last week with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, left no room for doubt about his views on where Test cricket sits in the hierarchy.
"If you want to earn respect in world cricket all over, take up Test cricket and give your heart and soul to it," he said.
But the awkward question for the sport's chiefs is whether the WTC is helping or hindering that aim.
