Anurag Thakur : BCCI is against the two-tier Test system

The proposal to split Test cricket into two tiers was tabled in the ICC annual meeting in Edinburgh this June. According to the proposal, the top tier will have seven nations, while five nations will compete in the second tier. ICC chief executive had explained the proposal as an attempt to give added "meaning and context" to Test cricket.

Unless we can give some meaning to these series beyond the rankings and a trophy, then interest in Test cricket will continue to waver."

Dave Richardson

"Unless we can give some meaning to these series beyond the rankings and a trophy, then interest in Test cricket will continue to waver," Richardson said. "The same applies if we allow uncompetitive Test cricket to take place too often."

While the proposal found support from the England and Wales Cricket Board, Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket, the boards of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh raised their reservations about the financial model and the strength of the competition in the system.

The most powerful board in the sport, the BCCI, had remained away from supporting or opposing the system till now, but in an interaction with the New Indian Express, President Anurag Thakur stated that the Board is not of favour of the two-tier system.

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."

Anurag Thakur

“Not at all. 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. 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 told Express.

Thakur’s comments are not likely to please the other boards which have been speaking in favour of the new system. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia chairman David Peever today asked the nations that have been opposing the system to embrace the change and said that “traditions must not stand in the way of progress”.