If reports are to be believed, Jay Shah, the recently elected chairman of the International Cricket Council, is spearheading the idea of a two-tier Test cricket. Shah was leading the push to host additional high-profile Test series in the cricket calendar alongside cricket boards from India, Australia, and England, according to a story published on Monday, January 6 by the Australian media outlet The Age.
BGT’s success inspired this move
If it is to be believed, the action follows the record-breaking attendance during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which featured five Test matches between Australia and India. With 837,879 spectators in stadiums, the BGT was the most attended non-Ashes series in Australian cricket history. After the Ashes series in 1936–37, 2017–18, and 1946–47, this was the fourth highest attended series in Australian cricket history.
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What is the 2-tier format and how it works?
The top teams in cricket today, including India, Australia, England, South Africa, and New Zealand, will play each other more frequently in the two-tier system. Other teams that are not known for their Test skills, such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland, and Zimbabwe, would be relegated to the format’s second division.
Teams that have not had much success recently in Test cricket, like Bangladesh and the West Indies, may fall under this category. While the lower-tier teams will only play inside their division, the top-tier clubs will compete against one another in this format. The inclusion of a promotion and relegation clause under this system has not been confirmed.
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Anurag Thakur, the head of the Indian cricket board at the time, rejected the proposal for a two-tier Test format in 2016 when the lesser teams objected. According to Thakur, the two-tier system will unfairly disadvantage minor teams and undermine cricket’s spirit.
“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,” then-BCCI president Anurag Thakur said in 2016.
Nonetheless, there has been an increase in support from some broadcasters who wish to increase their current level of profitability. Speaking about the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Ravi Shastri acknowledged that there was some truth to the claim that Test cricket would continue to exist if big sides played big teams.
“I’ve been a firm believer in that if you want Test cricket to survive and be alive and thriving, I think that’s the way to go. The top teams play against each other more often, so there is a contest; you want contests,” Shastri said on SEN during the final Test match of the series.
Possible teams in 2-tier structure
1st Division
South Africa, Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
2nd Division
West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
