Truthful Tuesday | ICC should render first Test Championship null and void
The Coronavirus outbreak has not just brought a dramatic stop to the world that never seemed to know the pause bottom, but it has also ensured that a lot of futuristic plans have gone for a toss. Cricket, the busy cricket, has succumbed to it, with finances seeing a dramatic fall from the grace.
A couple of weeks ago, I argued why the world-wide lock-down period, for the unfortunate reason that it is, has given the stakeholders a chance to ponder upon, while the boards to see themselves beyond the self-obsessed prism. It was in a way the need of the hour but what about the things that have already been lost? As one of our colleagues made this point in our Group call last week, this forced sabbatical will make the boards more greedy and when the sport does return, it will rather have a rather devastating impact on the way it was conducted. Ashley Giles’ statement of conducting a limited-overs game just ahead of a Test match showed the harsh future that is waiting for the sportspersons who are dying to get some game time now.
Therefore, how can there be a ground to simplify the equation and ensure there are no huge losses for the boards, who have failed to commit to their Futures Tour Programme (FTP) due to the unprecedented outbreak? As we drag along and see if there can be a possible extension of the Test Championship final, that is originally slated for June 2021, the ICC will rather put itself in troubled waters. The most feasible situation - declare the tournament null and void while preparing for the 2021-2023 Test Championship as the inaugural edition.
As a matter of fact, England’s tour of Sri Lanka stands cancelled, Australia couldn’t travel to Bangladesh, Bangladesh failed to visit Pakistan for the pending second Test, West Indies’ trip to New Zealand in doubt while England’s series against Windies almost cancelled. These are a few tournaments that need a structuring for the Championship to go ahead and we are not even in a position to tell when the sport can actually resume once again. In such a situation, does anyone see the point of having to reschedule all the series gone by? Clearly, it is not a matter of one or two series, but a lot of them.
Think from a financial standpoint too. Purists might detest it, but it doesn’t require rocket science to figure out that the limited-overs cricket drive finances. The Indian Premier League, which is easily the biggest cricketing event in the world and pays the bills of many Indian and foreign cricketers, has been more or less cancelled. The T20 World Cup has a lot of doubts surrounding it and a cancellation of that event will lead to dwindling finances for the fiscal year 2020-21. Advertisers have always been hooked to the idea of T20 cricket and if the two marquee events get postponed, we all know that it will have a ripple effect - and for a country like India, not just on cricket but on other sports too. In that situation, banking on them to spend money on Test cricket is asking a bit too much, honestly.
Let’s further look at how other things will pan out at the moment if the Test Championship is not cancelled. Lest the ICC manages to push the calendar by six to nine months (depending on the time the impact of the virus subside), it will have a chain reaction on the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup that was supposed to be played in India and the Qualification tournament for the 2023 World Cup. Let’s not forget that the ODI League was to start in 2020 to clear the road for the Qualification scenario for the World Cup and now that has gone for a toss.
By declaring the 2019-2021 ICC Test Championship null and void, the International Cricket Council will save time for them while having a fresh plan for the last segment of the current media rights cycle. Effectively, if any cricket happens in the 2020 season, then that and the entire 2021-22 season can be used to drive money into the system. Even if some people don’t like it, drive money by playing more T20 matches and for the moment, consider the Test matches a rather stand-alone commodity like it used to be. There is nothing wrong in it because if the primary objective of the Test Championship is to add context, then stay assured, people won’t have problems with the acceptance of any format of cricket at least for a year once cricket resumes. The context will not really be a problem.
By rendering the tournament null and void, the ICC will also ensure that the mishaps that happened purely from the point sharing basis and scheduling of five-match series can actually be averted with the great cricketing minds sitting together to find a consensus. They can ensure another unfair point system can be obliterated with logic and we have a better, beautiful and less controversial FIRST ICC Test Championship at hand.
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