Test title fight key to revival

SRI Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has called for the scrapped World Test Championship to be revived to solve some of the problems confronting Test cricket.

Sangakkara, in Australia playing in the Big Bash for the Hobart Hurricanes, has been a keen observer of the sad summer struggles of the once great West Indian Test side.

The Sri Lankan legend, an astute thinker on the game, insists there is too much of a divide between the haves and have-nots of world cricket.

The 38-year-old says pumping money into struggling cricket nations is one answer, but he is also a strong supporter of the abandoned World Test Championship.

The championship was once intended to become a tournament for Test cricket with the play-offs scheduled between the top four ranked teams.

But no agreement could be reached and the tournament was eventually cancelled due to financial problems.

Sangakkara concedes the Test Championship would not be a quick-fix to help battling sides like the West Indies.

But he insists it would help Test cricket overall and also assist the struggling nations by providing them with regular top-level Tests and an extra incentive to improve.

“The real key is to have a balanced schedule of Test cricket where all the countries get a good and fair opportunity to play the best cricket teams,’’ Sangakkara said.

“I think a Test Championship would be outstanding.

“If you have a tournament like that then every Test match has context and meaning. And that is because you are competing for something more than just that Test match.

“You are competing to get into that playoff, you are competing to be in the top four.

“The players are more incentivised and motivated to play their best and the boards are more keen to have their best players on field.

“And that will help to ensure whatever problems the boards have will be worked out quickly.’’