ICC Test Championship points system is ridiculous, asserts Michael Holding

Michael Holding’s name is synonymous with fearsome pace bowling during his time but the charm after retirement hasn't gone down either. The great pacer of the lore made a name for a no-nonsense commentator after retiring from the sport. That he does only ODIs and Test Cricket, it puts him in a definitive vantage point to understand the current ICC Test Championship. In a recent interview for the latest edition of Wisden Cricket Monthly, Holding questioned the point system and unfairness to the teams playing five Test matches.

"It doesn't work. First of all the points system is ridiculous. You can't play five Test matches and get the same amount of points if you play two Test matches,” Holding told Wisden Cricket Monthly.

"And secondly, at some point, you're going to have teams who know they cannot get to the final and so those Test matches aren't going to be all that entertaining. People know it's just another game."

While the ICC Test Championship was a genuine attempt to salvage the format, the boards, outside of the big three, are not that interested in marketing it. The rise of T20 cricket has given them a financial alternative, something that has been a stark contrast to the past. Holding stated that the smaller boards have a role to play in the dwindling numbers at the stands for five-day cricket.

“If you look around the world at the support for Test cricket – not just by the number of people in the stands but even from the various cricket boards around the world – they are not really shouting from the top of the hills: ‘Come and watch Test cricket’. They are shouting about their shorter formats. That is what they are promoting,” the celebrated cricketer from West Indies added.