World test cricket championship nearer

BY JAMIE PANDARAM

A championship series for test cricket is close to fruition, with the two best nations to play a grand final possibly over six days or even until there is a result, under a proposal set to revolutionise the game.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland is confident his ICC counterparts will take their first steps towards a points-based system since the Sydney Morning Herald published a detailed plan devised by former Kiwi Test skipper Martin Crowe last September on how a test championship would work.

Teams would gain points for each test they win and bonuses for large victories, which would be charted on a ladder to determine the top two sides in the world after the allocated season.

Any championship would radically change the context of series, with points on the line even in dead-rubber matches, and should improve ratings for broadcasters.

''A Test championship is a good initiative and brings a climax and a big global event around Test cricket,'' Sutherland said.

''All the ICC global events forever and a day have been for the shorter forms of the game …''

Sutherland said a grand final could be held at a neutral venue, and if there was only room for one match, it could be a timeless Test or run over six days to maximise chances of a result.

Crowe, who is a member of the MCC's world cricket committee, formulated a knockout test championship to be held every year with a grand final to be played at Lord's.

It is unclear whether the crowded future tours program, which demands that each test nation play each other home and away within the four-year framework, could be remodelled to allow a grand final each year.

''The top two ranked teams could play off against each other in a three-match series or a one-match series at a neutral venue in a timeless Test or maybe six days,'' Sutherland said.

''You can develop something that's more fulsome, with a perfect league where everyone plays each other in a three-Test series over two or three years but practically that's not going to happen. There will be other ways of determining who the top teams are and how they play off. Over a three-week period you could play semi-finals and a final. That's another option but I don't think we're quite at that stage yet. We're still nutting out the details of the concept.''

There is no doubt there will be a shake-up of the FTP, which would also allow a possible one-day championship to be established, given the extraordinary number of ODIs scheduled.

''I think it's imminent,'' Sutherland said. ''There are discussions around context that include a league Test championship and also one-day leagues and context around one-day cricket which we think one-day cricket will significantly benefit from.''

Meanwhile, CA hopes to finalise its position on the nomination of John Howard for the ICC's vice-presidency tomorrow. CA is strongly tipped to dump the former prime minister, who was rejected by the ICC, for a new candidate.

- © Fairfax NZ News