After two years of cricket and 58 Test matches, the much awaited World Test Championship Final is finally here.
During the WTC, India have been a dominant force, both at home & abroad, as was evident with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. New Zealand have been miles ahead at home but not much to show in the away leg. So, who will it be?
Who, What, When, Where?
India Vs New Zealand
World Test Championship (WTC) Final
June 18th-22nd
The Rose Bowl, Southampton
A reserve day is available in case all the overs are not recovered during the five days. If there is a tie or a draw, the World Test Championship trophy will be shared.
New Zealand have already been in England for a 2-Test series, which has helped them acclimatize to the conditions and rest/rotate some of their players. India have not had much practice but have been in England to serve quarantine time.
A good pitch can make an immense difference in the viewing of a Test match.
The first Test between England & New Zealand ended in a boring draw. It was an atypical England pitch—slightly flat and not much swing on offer either. Even a player of Jimmy Anderson’s caliber failed to generate much out of it.
The only reason there was any hope of a result was due to New Zealand’s bold declaration early on day 5. The second Test ongoing right now, is not much different either.
I really hope a sporting pitch, fitting of a final, is provided by the ICC.
Will The Teams Go For the Jugular?
New Zealand in the final of a world trophy in England.
It will be interesting how teams go about since trophy could be shared, unlike the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final.
Imagine this scenario—Day 5 last session, 100 runs needed with 4 wickets to go in 20 overs – will the chasing team go for it while risking a loss? Will the bowling team keep an aggressive field or keep the field back to reduce the run rate?
If the match does go late into Day 5, it could be an enthralling event, but just 1-match final is not ideal. Ravi Shastri provided an apt solution—best of 3-match final series will be fitting for a tournament that takes more than two years.
Siraj, Shami, and Sharma – Who Will Play?
Now for the interesting part—the selection policies. Both teams boast envious bench strengths. India even won in Australia with a so-called second string team.
Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel all have played starring role during the course of the WTC campaign, but will anyone even get into the XI during the final?
Mohammad Siraj debuted in the 2nd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and rumors are he might get a wildcard entry into the XI due to his impressive performances. With Bumrah & Ashwin most likely to play, Siraj, Shami, Sharma, and Umesh will fight it out for the remaining two spots.
New Zealand are spoiled for choices as well.
Devon Conway debuted with a magnificent 200 at Lord’s, youngster Will Young is in the form of his life, and two out of the all-rounders Colin de Grandhomme-Daryl Mitchell-Mitchell Santner should play. The selection on the bowling front is even trickier. Southee-Boult-Wagner-Jamieson select themselves, but Matt Henry had a great outing in the 2nd Test vs England, and they still have Doug Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, & spinner Ajaz Patel in the sidelines.
Both teams have talent, but the team that chooses in-form players and makes better decisions will prevail.
An End of an Era?
BJ Watling announced his retirement prior to the series, and although he played the first Test against England, he was out of the 2nd Test due to a sore back. Hopefully he recovers back in time for his final appearance and has one final gritty knock in him.
We have seen World Cups being a swansong for plenty of players, and the World Test Championship might well be the equivalent for Test specialists.
Both New Zealand & India have been around the ICC trophies over the past decade without actually winning much. While BJ Watling is the only one to formally announce his retirement, Neil Wagner (35), Ross Taylor (37), Ishant Sharma (32), Tim Southee (32), and Ravichandran Ashwin (34) might only have a final shot at a major world trophy.
Anyway, I do not know about you, but I cannot wait for this match to get started. Five days of a good battle between bat & ball by the two of the best sides in the world.
Game on.
What are your thoughts on the World Test Championship Final? Comment below and subscribe for more updates!
We consider the implementation Relegation & Promotion in our third segment of Make Test Cricket Great Again & Restore The Soul of this Wonderful Sport.
Today we tackle one of the more popular suggestions on how to make test cricket more competitive and provide a detailed recommendation in our proposal.
The Problem
Ramiz Raza received backlash post the Zimbabwe Vs Pakistan Test series for implying in his YouTube channel that these one-sided series are a joke and will drive cricket fans away to other sports. What is the point of having Test matches where matches finish in 2 or 3 days and the team does not seem to improve?
Despite the social media outrage, he definitely has a point.
Zimbabwe have managed only 14 victories & 28 draws in their 29-year Test history. Similarly, Bangladesh has only won 14 out of their 123 Tests in the past 21-years, and most of them at home. One can argue that India (20 years) & New Zealand (25 years) also took some time to get going, but that was an era between 1930 & 1955.
The entire face of sport has changed since then.
Why Does It Matter?
The World Test Championship was created to encourage context in Test cricket.
However, it has had the opposite impact. Since the finalists, India and New Zealand, were decided before the end of the WTC cycle, the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh and Pakistan-Zimbabwe series had low viewership and zero context.
There was also criticism that while New Zealand breezed through their home games and qualified for the finals, England were penalized even though they achieved success in traditionally tough touring spots like South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The question “Is Test cricket dying?” is thrown around a lot, but it does not provide the whole picture. Rather the question should be asked, “How should the standards of Test cricket increase?” or “How can we even the level-playing field between the top-ranked/most-funded and the lower-tiered nations?”
It is clear that big nations will continue to invest & prosper in Test cricket, so Test cricket will remain alive. It is the lower-ranked teams, who will languish at the bottom.
The Background
According to the current ICC Test rankings*, there is a substantial gap between sides:
Top 4: India (121), New Zealand (120), England (109), Australia (108)
Mid 4: Pakistan (94), West Indies (84), South Africa (80), Sri Lanka (78)
Recently, the ICC also suggested temporary Test status to other Associate nations like Scotland & Netherlands, which is a step in the right direction.
Finally, we need to be mindful of some intricacies before our proposal. Unlike the standardized ODI Super League (3 ODIs per series), the Ashes & Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) rivalry games will continue. On the other hand, a 2-Test series should be abandoned altogether.
*Rankings as of 13 May, 2021
The Proposal
We propose a two-tiered system, Bracket A (ranked #1-6) & Bracket B (#7-12) competing in the World Test Championship, with an additional Bracket C (non-Test playing nations) to encourage Associate nations.
General Rules
2-year cycle, 5 series total
Top 2 of Bracket B promoted to Bracket A
Bottom 2 of Bracket A relegated to Bracket B
Each team plays ALL the other teams in the bracket for an equal amount of games per team
From the 5 series, it should have a division of 2-2-1 (Home/Away/Neutral venue)
If teams are in the same bracket for 2 consecutive cycles, they will alternate between home and away
Since the Big 3 nations play 4-5 Tests among themselves and the lower-ranked teams lose money while hosting a Test series, we will have two sets of proposals for the two brackets.
Bracket A
18 Tests total per team
Three 3-match series, one 4-match Test series, one 5-match Test series
Each series to include 1 Day-Night pink ball Test match per series
Top 2 in Bracket A compete in a 3-match World Test Championship Grand Finale held in a neutral venue
*This depends if India and Pakistan agree to play each other because they will be in the same bracket if we go by current rankings.
Bracket B
15 Tests total
Five 3-match series
Top 2 of Bracket B compete in a Final match (neutral venue)
Both finalists receive monetary award (incentive for lower-ranked teams)
Bracket C
Replaces the Intercontinental Cup
4-Day matches, classified as First-Class Matches
1-3 matches per series depending on resources
Exhibition games scheduled against Bracket B members
Receive Test Status at the end of the cycle on a case-by-case basis
Demonstration
We demonstrate this proposal by utilizing the final status of the inaugural WTC Points Table. Here is how a potential Bracket A and Bracket B may look like if this proposal was implemented for the next iteration of the WTC:
Bracket A
India (Ind)
New Zealand (NZ)
Australia (Aus)
England (Eng)
Pakistan (Pak)
West Indies (WI)
Bracket B
South Africa (SA)
Sri Lanka (SL)
Bangladesh (Ban)
Zimbabwe (Zim)
Ireland (Ire)
Afghanistan (Afg)
For Bracket A, here is how the scheduling may look like.
Ind: 5 vs NZ, 4 vs Aus (BGT), 3 Vs Rest
NZ: 5 vs Ind, 4 vs Pak, 3 Vs Rest
Aus: 5 vs Eng (Ashes), 4 vs Ind (BGT), 3 Vs Rest
Eng: 5 vs Aus (Ashes), 4 vs WI, 3 Vs Rest
Pak: 5 vs WI, 4 vs NZ, 3 Vs Rest
WI: 5 vs Pak, 4 vs Eng, 3 Vs Rest
For Bracket C, we can look back to the 8-team 2015-2017 ICC Intercontinental Cup for inspiration. By the current ODI ranking, Netherlands (13), Scotland (14), Oman (15), Nepal (16), UAE (17), Namibia (18), United States (19), & Papua New Guinea (20), and Hong Kong (played in the last Intercontinental Trophy) should be offered the choice of playing “temporary Test cricket.”
This can provide a pipeline & adequate preparation for Associate nations to be granted Test status in the future instead of just at random (like granting Bangladesh Full Status after defeating Pakistan in 1999 World Cup).
Potential Consequences – A New Cricket Calendar
If implemented, the tiered-Test system has the potential to alter cricket forever.
The World Test Championship, ODI Super League schedule, & a formalized T20 league calendar should be the basis of scheduling matches. It will be the end of ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP). Hence, all matches in all formats will become consequential. No more dead rubbers.
Another possible scenario is the solidification of the two-separate squads experiment. Due to the pandemic, Australia initially scheduled two separate teams for South Africa Tests (eventually cancelled) & New Zealand limited overs series. This has come to life with India sending two separate squads for England (Tests) & Sri Lanka (limited overs).
With the new cricket calendar, it is likely that a short limited overs tour will be scheduled (for ODI Super League) at the same time as a long 5-match Test series (for WTC).
Although the Zimbabwe-Pakistan series displayed a stark difference in class, we should not jump to conclusions too quickly. The India-England series also included 2-day Tests and India were all out for 36 not too long ago.
Zimbabwe should still play Tests. All Full Members should. Provide the lower ranked teams with context and additional funding to host Tests, and they will flourish.
Just give them some time.
What do you think? Yay or Nay to Relegation/Promotion & a 2-Tiered System? Or would you do it differently – maybe two brackets of 5 teams each, until Afghanistan/Ireland find their feet in Test cricket?
Here we are with part II in our series, Make Test Cricket Great Again: Problems with Test Cricket.
Albert Einstein once said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
This is exactly our goal. The long-term ambition of this series of articles is to generate a whole list of problems associated with Test cricket, propose respective solutions(both idealistic & practical), bring other people in during the process, and maybe at the end, gather enough momentum to gain the attention of administrators & the ICC.
Today, we bring in our friends from Twitter who will share their concerns with Test cricket & the World Test Championship.
The more opinions we have, the better. We can only move forward with a rich exchange of ideas between the fans, commentators, local administrators, experts, & former players rather than just the meeting board room of the Big 3.
The Work Done So Far
We did a similar exercise during the early days of the World Test Championship, but we wish to build upon this model. Here are some of our past proposals to improve the WTC.
Problems: Imbalance of the Big 3 (Australia, England, India) and the bias of ‘marquee’ series like the 5-match Ashes.
Solution: Merge the FTP (Future Tour Programme) & the WTC, and create a system where each team plays a 5-4-3 match series or 4-4-4 Test match series during a cycle. “Instead of scrapping the Ashes, we will keep traditional rivalries intact and encourage new ones.” Overall, 24 games against 9 opponents in a 2.5 year WTC cycle.
Problems: (1) Points fluctuate based on number of games in a series (60 points – 2 Tests, 40 – 3 Tests, 24 – 5 Tests), (2) No points accommodated for Home & Away Advantage, and (3) All-Or-Nothing Points System for a 5 day-15 session Test match.
Solution: We combine the ODI Super League system (consistent base point system per series), provide a mechanism for home versus away (away wins & draws worth more), and distribute additional points across sessions to incorporate ebb & flow (2 points – session won, 1 point – even/wash out).
We implement our system from above and compare it with the WTC Table (as of August 30, 2020)
The Work Planned Ahead
The issue with my initial set of articles was the underlying assumption that each team will play an equal number of matches against each other. In a post-COVID world, matches are not guaranteed, and it seems certain nations are prioritizing games against higher ranked teams and calling off series against lower-ranked ones.
Hence, we plan to do practical investigations in our future articles:
Revenue each Test playing nation generates: How much money does each cricket board and player earn every Test series per country? Why does New Zealand lose money to host a Test? How does the revenue compare to T20 leagues and the death of the tri-series?
What does it take to host a Test match? We can analyze what goes during the match but what goes behind the scenes? We will research and examine key components: The major players, administrators, ground staff, and more.
Equity vs Equality: Innovations that can help further bridge the gap between the different teams given the current financial status and level of each team.
The Pink Ball Test: Does More Harm Than Good? Day-night Test matches ending in 2-3 days cannot generate more crowd/interest than a balanced Test match held for 5 days during the day. We will analyze the key differences between the red ball & pink ball, practice matches in domestic tournaments, and if this idea is worth sustaining?
Your Opinion Matters: Problems With Test Cricket
In Part I of the series, we asked our friends on Twitter how they would improve Test cricket. Some ideas that I brainstormed to get the conversation started were as follows:
Getting rid of DRS umpires call (on impact)
Improving/ Standardizing pitches (Chennai 2x pitch received way too much backlash)
Promoting more money from T20 leagues to help out domestic cricketers
Having a relegation-promotion system for the WTC
What Do People Think?
Now it is the people’s turn. Here is what they had to say. These are interesting Twitter accounts, blogs, & podcasts in their own right. Feel free to check them out (links next to the name).
“Definitely agree that that there is too much disparity between the big three and every other team. I am also onboard with a ‘division’ system for the WTC.”
Every team should play against each other. That will make the tournament lengthy but it will make it perfect and no teams can be said to have an easier pool or tougher pool. Conduct finals once in 4-5 years. Every Test playing nation should play against each other. It will make the WTC more enthralling contest.
“I just hate the comments that this team got ‘easier’ away tours than others. Or easier home games. WTC is a mighty big championship and in something big like this, you do not want any comments which should call it unfair.”
Conclusion
Brilliant entries from Twitter! Major theme was to create a balance in the number of Test matches played between each country during a particular cycle. Some innovative solutions for the WTC included 2 groups semi-finals format, bonus points against higher ranked teams, & a 3-match final. For Test cricket in general—mandatory neutral umpires, DRS improvement, & updating rain-protocols were some interesting proposals.
Looking Forward
Last time, I started with “I have been meaning to write this article for months now, but for some reason have not been able to.”
I now know why. This is not a one day project. Or a one week project. Or even a one person project. This will take input from several individuals, research & conversations, back & forth exchanges, and a lot of time. But, as they say:
“Rome was not built in day. It was built brick by brick.”
One step at a time.
Make Test Cricket Great Again and Restore the Soul of This Wonderful Sport.
Make Test Cricket Great Again—I have been meaning to write this article for months now, but for some reason have not been able to.
Maybe it is because of the recent bit of exhilarating Test cricket, and all is actually well and good. Or maybe there is too much to fix and Test cricket has just become a lost cause.
The reality is somewhere in the middle.
Test Cricket At Its Best
Just in the last month, we witnessed some exhilarating bits of test cricket.
Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand – we saw New Zealand’s best pace quartet, Mohammad Rizwan-Faheem Ashraf’s courage to save Pakistan from numerous collapses, Azhar Ali answering his critics, and Fawad Alam redeeming his lost decade in the last match of 2020. Almost saved the match if not for Mitchell Santner’s jumping catch.
Fast forward the next month, we saw epic lows and mountainous highs in the India vs Australia series – the 36 All Out, finally a 5th Day test match save at Sydney, and the breach of the Gabba. Then, followed England’s sweep of Sri Lanka and India’s defeat at Chennai.
All of these Test match efforts were swept under the carpet after Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers’ amazing chase of 396 against Bangladesh. The West Indies ended up winning the series 2-0. If India’s 3rd string victory in Australia was anything, West Indies’ debutants eclipsed it one step further. Winning Test matches in Bangladesh is not easy anymore. Just ask England or Australia.
Is Test Cricket Dying?
With 6 overseas victories, an enthralling draw (almost 2), and only 2 wins by a home side recently (Melbourne and Chennai 2x), we can definitely say that Test cricket is not dying.
Between the 2011 and 2019 World Cup, these matches were hard to come by. With the exception of the great South African generation, almost no team won overseas. The only competitive test series I remember is the England-New Zealand 2013-14 series. Ashes 2019 reignited the fire in Test Cricket, and post-COVID, the flame has continued to spread.
So now with the World Test Championship heating up in its final stage and teams starting to compete overseas again, is everything well and good? Absolutely not.
The Big 3 still dominate, WTCs Points Table sucks, there is no context for teams out of contention, and finances for Test cricket are a problem. Here are some of our past proposals to improve the World Test Championship.
What we wish to do in this series of articles, Make Test Cricket Great Again, is to expose problems faced by Test cricket, provide practical solutions, and go from there.
I highlighted practical for a specific purpose. Earlier, our series of articles on Test Cricket included solutions that involved each Test team playing an equal number of matches and assumed that the influence of the Big 3 will reduce over time. In the post-COVID world, this prediction is far away from the truth.
England will play 18 Tests for the WTC while Bangladesh will play around 4. Australia cancelled a Test series against South Africa which put a sour taste on the CSA-CA relationship, and it seems the WTC is basically a longwinded quadrangular series between New Zealand, England, India, and Australia.
Hence our future articles in Make Test Cricket Great Again category may include more practical insights like:
Revenue each Test playing nation generates
What It takes to host a Test match
Equity vs Equality: Innovations that can help further bridge the gap between the different teams given the current financial status and level of each team
Your Opinion Matters
So, how do you think should Test cricket should improve? We would love to share your thoughts in our future articles. We want to hear some innovative ideas (not too innovative though…the Big Bash tried too hard). Here are some other ideas that I have thought about, but maybe you all can pitch in with some more!
Getting rid of DRS umpires call (on impact)
Improving/ Standardizing pitches (Chennai 2x pitch received way too much backlash)
Promoting more money from T20 leagues to help out domestic cricketers
Having a relegation-promotion system for the WTC
Conclusion
Although Donald Trump lost his reelection bid for U.S. Presidential Election and Joe Biden prevailed—we can do something unheard of—combine both of their slogans and adopt it for our purposes:
Make Test Cricket Great Again and Restore the Soul of This Wonderful Sport.
World Test Championship III: Implementing the Proposed Points Table
After the conclusion of the England-Pakistan Test series, we decided to update the World Test Championship Table based on our new proposed system in Part II of the segment, WTC: Good Structure But Needs Structural Improvement.
Earlier in Part I, How can the World Test Championship improve?, we described how the Big 3 is creating an imbalance in the World Test Championship via ‘marquee’ series’ like The Ashes and what can be done to improve it.
World Test Championship: Current System
Let us recall why we are discussing changing the World Test Championship (WTC) Table in the first place. Here are some of the flaws that WTC possesses today:
Number of Tests Played is uneven: England play 22, while Pakistan/Sri Lanka play 13 each.
Currently no distinction is made for Home/Away advantage: So far, England have played 11/4 (H/A), while New Zealand have played 2/5 (H/A).
Number of points fluctuate depending on # of games per series: Unfair to shorter series, and hence, discriminating against lower-ranked (and less financially stable) teams.
All-or-Nothing System:Test matches occur over 5 days or a max-of-15 sessions. One session can have a huge impact on the series, as the First Test of Eng-Pak exhibited. Yet, the points are awarded on an all-or-nothing basis.
Table I: Current World Test Championship Table
Team
Series
Tests
Points
P
W
L
D
P
W
L
D
T
India
4
3
1
0
9
7
2
0
0
360/480
Australia
3
2
0
1
10
7
2
1
0
296/360
England
4
3
0
1
15
8
4
3
0
292/480
New Zealand
3
1
1
1
7
3
4
0
0
180/360
Pakistan
4*
1
2
0
8
2
3
3
0
166/420
Sri Lanka
2
0
1
1
4
1
2
1
0
80/240
West Indies
2
0
2
0
5
1
4
0
0
40/240
South Africa
2
0
2
0
7
1
6
0
0
24/240
Bangladesh
2*
0
1
0
3
0
3
0
0
0/180
World Test Championship Table: Current System
*Note: Bangladesh tour of Pakistan was postponed after 1 Test match (out of a 2-Test series) due to COVID. Points are calculated as if the 2-match series will be completed eventually.
Brief Review – WTC Points Table Proposed System
Recall, our points distribution proposal is a two-tiered system, based on (1) session by session data and (2) Home/Away respectively.
In our proposed system, each team plays 12 Home/12 Away tests for a total of 24 matches over 2 and a half years, where the total points possible for each team is 1200 points, for an average of 50 points per match. The criteria is as follows:
In the last article, we displayed the process for computing the session by session and overall total score for the West Indies-England series.
After the completion of the England-Pakistan series, we went back and similarly computed session by session points for every Test match in the WTC thus far…by hand.
After analyzing the 34 Test matches completed so far (with maximum of 510 sessions), we came up with the following summary:
Table II: (New) Series and Session Summary
Teams
Matches
Sessions
Played (H/A)
Won (H/A)
Lost (H/A)
Drawn (H/A)
Won
Drawn
WO/BL
Sessions Left
India
9 (5/4)
7 (5/2)
2 (0/2)
0 (0/0)
56
19
3
30
Australia
10 (5/5)
7 (5/2)
2 (0/2)
1 (0/1)
68
18
9
15
England
15 (11/4)
8 (5/3)
4 (3/1)
3 (3/0)
77
45
32
16
Pakistan
8 (3/5)
2 (2/0)
3 (0/3)
3 (1/2)
26
17
20
7
New Zealand
7 (2/5)
3 (2/1)
4 (0/4)
0 (0/0)
26
14
7
12
Sri Lanka
4 (1/3)
1 (1/0)
2 (1/1)
1 (0/1)
11
11
14
2
West Indies
5 (2/3)
1 (0/1)
4 (2/2)
0 (0/0)
7
21
8
0
South Africa
7 (4/3)
1 (1/0)
6 (3/3)
0 (0/0)
20
13
4
4
Bangladesh
3 (0/3)
0 (0/0)
3 (0/3)
0 (0/0)
2
5
0
0
Proposed World Test Championship Table: Session Points
*WO/BL – Wash out/Bad Light
II. Updated Points System – Total Points Based on H/A
After computing the (I.) total session points, we add the (II.) base Home and Away score. Hence, the updated World Test Championship Table looks as follows:
Table III: New Points Table
I.Session Points (H/A)
II.Points (Home)
II.Points (Away)
Points Total
%
Rank (By %)
Rank (By Total)
Rank by Session (without H/A)
India
194 (130/64)
210/230
112/216
322/446
72.19%
1
3
2
Australia
193 (118/75)
198/230
135/270
333/500
66.6%
2
2
3
England
267 (196/71)
284/506
143/216
427/702
60.83%
3
1
1
Pakistan
127 (63/64)
103/138
78/270
181/408
44.36%
4
4
4
New Zealand
97 (49/48)
80/92
73/270
153/362
42.27%
5
5
5
Sri Lanka
51 (29/22)
45/92
34/108
79/200
39.5%
6
7
7
West Indies
43 (8/35)
8/92
59/162
67/254
26.37%
7
8
8
South Africa
65 (49/16)
65/184
16/162
81/346
23.4%
8
6
6
Bangladesh
9 (-/9)
N/A
9/162
9/162
5.55%
9
9
9
Proposed World Test Championship Table: Session Points – Based on Home and Away
Observations
We went ahead with percentage (%) of points won for the time being, since each team has not (and will not) play the same number of Test matches.
Pakistan and New Zealand switch positions as compared to Table I (4/5).
The most recent series, Eng-Pak actually received 66-26 points. According to our method, the scores would have been 82-62, which is a much better reflection of the series (and given that Pakistan was the away team).
If we had utilized Rank (By Total) as in the current system, we would have England #1, Australia #2, India #3, and South Africa up to #6, who have not had a good WTC so far.
Australia has one extra Test match drawn away from home compared to India. Hence, they are rewarded and are ahead based on total points. If we disregard H/A, India would be #2.
*Fun Fact: 32 sessions involving England (both home and away) were impacted by wash-outs or rained out, which is more than 2 Test matches or almost 11 days.
Conclusion
Note, at this point in time, the Proposed Table and the Actual Table look quite similar, but we attribute it to the small sample size, especially for teams ranked below 5.
We conjecture that as teams play similar amount of matches, our table will benefit the lower ranked teams and hence make the championship more competitive.
We will continue to update this table as more WTC matches are played.
In the meanwhile, let us know what suggestions you have to improve this table. Comment below, and we will see if it is possible to implement the idea!
Anyway, share, subscribe, and follow us on social media!
Source: Sincere Thanks to Vandit for helping in analyzing session by session data and computing overall points.
Image Courtesy: South Africa vs England, at Newlands, Cape Town Jan 2005, Test Day 3 Louis Rossouw /CC via 2.0
New Zealand: Played-7, won-3, lost-4. South Africa: Played-7, won-1, lost-6.
Looks pretty close, right? Wrong. New Zealand are currently sitting in 4th place of the World Test Championship (WTC) table with 180 points while South Africa is languishing near the bottom with just 24 points. Even though these two teams are separated by two losses, South Africa are behind by a seemingly insurmountable 156 points.
The number of points awarded in the WTC fluctuates depending on the number of matches played per series. A 2-match series is allotted 60 points per game, while 3, 4, and 5 match-series are awarded 40, 30, and 24 points respectively. Although dead-rubbers are eliminated in this format, some games now are worth more than others.
England lost the first test of the Ashes and the Wisden trophy, but it did not cost them much since the series consisted of more than 2 games. Teams playing 2-match series cannot afford the same degree of flexibility.
The Catch:
First, an all-or-nothing point system for a 5-day match is not justified. Test matches are enthralling to watch because of their ebb and flow. One Stuart Broad session can completely turn the series around or Faf Du Plessis-esque blockathon for multiple sessions might save a test match. Therefore, session-by-session match-ups need to be considered, not only the overall result. Second and more importantly, we need to incorporate home and away matches properly.
The Statistic:
India and Australia are classic examples. Over the last decade, India has won 36 matches, drawn 9, and lost merely 3 at home from the 48 played. However, they only won 17, drew 12, and lost 26 from the 55 played abroad (even this is skewed by away games played at the subcontinent). Similarly, Australia has a 36-9-9 record at home versus 17-7-25 away.
It has always been tough to win abroad, but in the last decade, the situation has worsened. In the 2010s, every country had a win-loss (W/L) ratio less than 1, meaning they lost more away than they won. Contrastingly, in the 2000s, Australia and South Africa had W/L greater than 1, while India and England were close with 0.8 and 0.739 W/L respectively. In order to better incentivize winning abroad, more emphasis should be provided on winning away games.
The Inspiration:
Last week, we discussed how the various ‘marquee’ series’ were skewing the World Test Championship (WTC). We proposed that every team should be allocated exactly 24 games against nine different opponents over a period of two and a half years. Each team plays a total of six 2-match series along with 5-4-3 or 4-4-4 distribution against the remaining three opponents. Now that each team is on a level-playing field with an equal number of games, we can move on to solve the issues plaguing the point system.
We will take inspiration from the other major innovation the ICC came up with apart from WTC to contextualize the cricket calendar—the ODI World Cup Super League (WSL). The points system for the Super League provides a more competitive environment than the WTC.
For instance, in the WSL,10 points are assigned for a win, 5 for tie or no-result, and 0 for a loss. On the other hand, for a 3-match test series, winning constitutes 40 points, tie 20 points, draw 13 points, and defeat 0 points. Theoretically, bouncing back from a 3-match series loss is possible in the WSL, unlike a similar scenario in the WTC.
The Proposal:
So how do we fix this? We need to combine the ODI Super League system, provide a mechanism for home versus away, and distribute points across sessions. The overall points distribution for one match will consist of (1) base point system like WSL adjusted on a home/away basis, and (2) points awarded per session of a test match.
Here is our proposal. Note, each team plays 24 matches total-12 home and 12 away.
Every test match has a maximum of 15 sessions (3 sessions – 5 days).
If the match finishes before the last session on the 5th day, the winning team is awarded the points for the remaining sessions
Points Possible Per Match:30
Home – Max Points Possible: 360 (12*30)
Away – Max Points Possible: 360 (12*30)
Next, we provide criteria for home and away as displayed below:
Points
Win
Draw
Lose
Total
Home
16
8
0
192
Away
24
12
0
288
Mean
20
10
0
240
Home and Away – Points Distribution
Maximum points for Home team: 360 +192 = 552 points.
Maximum points for Away team: 360 + 288 = 648 points.
Total possible points: 552 + 648 = 1200
Average Points/Match: 1200/24 = 50 points per match.
The Example
As a demonstration, we take the recently concluded West-Indies tour of England series, which ended in 1-2. In the current format, West Indies got 40 points, while England got 80. We looked back at the scorecards in detail and allocated the points per session:
WI
Drawn
Wash- Out
Eng
1st Test
4 (8)
7 (7)
2 (2)
2 (4)
2nd Test
2 (4)
4 (4)
3 (3)
6 (12)
3rd Test
0 (0)
4 (4)
3 (3)
8 (16)
Sess.
6 (12)
15 (15)
8 (8)
16 (32)
West Indies vs England – Session by Session
*Sess:Sessions (Points Awarded)
We then repeated the process for each test and computed the following result:
WI Total
Eng Total
WI Away
Eng Home
1st Test
17
13
17+24: 41/54
13+0: 13/46
2nd Test
11
19
11+0: 11/54
19+16: 35/46
3rd Test
7
23
7 +0: 7/54
23+16: 39/46
Total
35
55
35+24: 59/162
55+32: 87/138
West Indies vs England – Total Points
Altogether, even though 59-87 is not as close as the 40-80 from the earlier system, it is still much better and keeps the hope of a comeback alive. Had West-Indies survived the final session of the second test, they would have earned a few points in the session-category as well as received 12 points for the draw in an away match, thereby closing the gap.
In the 45 sessions during the series, West-Indies won 6, England won 16, and 23 were either evenly matched or washed out.
West Indies were playing for a maximum of 54 points per test, while England were playing for a maximum of 46 points per test.
The Conclusion:
Is this system perfect? Not quite, but it is definitely an improvement on the current system. But imagine, teams trying to survive an extra session or opposition teams bowling aggressively to finish the game in an early session due to this extra incentive. This system is not as simple as the current format, but at least it is not as complex as the D-L system!
Please let us know if you have any suggestions in the comments below, share with friends and family, and subscribe!
Stay tuned for Part III coming up – where we redo the WTC Points Table with our method and compare it with the skewed table currently in place.
Image Courtesy: Leighhubbard, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
