ICC lift lid on championship

Wellington – The International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled a long-awaited, nine-nation Test championship yesterday in a bid to preserve the five-day format’s status.

The Test league was among reforms agreed at a meeting in Auckland, including revamping the one-day international schedule and trialling four-day Tests.

“Our priority was to develop a structure that gave context and meaning across international cricket and particularly in the Test arena,” ICC chief David Richardson said in a statement.

The Test league will start in 2019 and see nine teams play six series over two years – three home and three away. It will culminate in a final between the two top teams at Lord’s.

The ICC has argued for years that a Test championship is needed to boost the format’s popularity as crowds and TV viewers flock to the fast-paced, big-hitting Twenty20 version of the game.

It first appointed a committee to examine the concept back in 1998. But squabbling over formats, and fears that some nations will be disadvantaged, have twice stymied efforts to launch a league structure since 2010.

“Bringing context to bilateral cricket is not a new challenge, but this is the first time a genuine solution has been agreed on,” ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said.

The nine nations are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.

The meeting also agreed to experiment with four-day Tests, with South Africa and Zimbabwe set to trial the first in December.

Richardson emphasised that the shorter Test matches were only being trialled and their results would not be part of the new Test championship.

The ICC will also establish a 13-nation one-day international league starting in 2020, with results counting towards World Cup qualification. –