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South Africa defeated Pakistan today to qualify for the World Test Championship Final that will be played at Lords in June 2025. This is against all odds as cricket is governed by the top 3 India, England and Australia. This has actually bitten them in the backside as they are the only teams that have 5 test series against each other. This is how they make so much money and they take the lion share of world cricket revenue between them. The remainder are left to fight over the scraps and you do wonder how they survive.
If one looks at how many matches the "smaller " teams play it is laughable and why the longer format of test cricket is struggling in those countries. This was always seen as the pinnacle of tis sport and now it is hardly ever seen in those countries. England played 22 matches, India 19 and Australia 17 so how is that fair when you see South Africa played 12, New Zealand 14 and Sri Lanka 11 matches.
There is definitely a top tier in cricket with the top 3 making all the decisions that suit themselves and the rest are there to make up the numbers. This is why it is great when one of the "smaller" teams upsets the odds and has qualified in a tournament they would expect themselves to be involved in.
If you play more matches you will earn more money but there is no guarantee you will always win. We saw New Zealand defeat India 3-0 in India recently which would have seen them in the final if they had won those matches. Australia now need to defeat India in this current series and then defeat Sri Lanka in order to qualify and join South Africa in the final next June.
The only 5 test match series feature Australia, England and India with everyone else playing a 2 or 3 test series and this surely should be changed. If they allowed the top 4 teams on he log to play a 5 test series against each other then there would be no guarantee that the top 3 dominating world cricket would always be playing 5 tests against each other. This would make other teams become more competitive to try and make their way into the top 4.
Could you imagine England not making the top 4 and the Ashes had to be over 3 tests and not 5 and why this is just a thought and would never be allowed to happen. The money revenue generated between these two great rivals is just too big to jeopardize even though England find themselves in the 6th spot currently. This is why the top 3 dominate the voting blocks as they protect what they have.
Unfortunately a few years ago the head of each nation handed their voting rights over by allowing the top 3 to dominate the sport. At the time the head of cricket in SA was not even a cricketer and had no idea what he was allowing to happen and the top 3 took advantage. A new vote should take place every 4 years as this is not healthy for the sport and this need to change.
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I don’t think England particularly care about the Test Championship at present. If you asked an English cricketer or supporter, what they’d, rather win, the Ashes or the Test Championship, it’d be the Ashes every time and that’s really where captains, teams and coaches are judged.
If you’ve never watched the documentary’Death of a Gentleman’ then I’d highly recommend it. It goes into how the big 3 cemented their power. Although to be honest, England and Australia are now secondary to India’s power and particularly that of the IPL and the global franchises that has created.
Look at what the BCCI did with the IPL auction recently in insisting that if players want to be part of the next 3 year cycle they must make themselves available for the 2025 auction. You regularly see English and Australian players dipping in and out of the IPL and fitting it around international commitments. That’s no longer an option unless they want to forgo millions over a 3 year period and what can the nations do to stop India or the players? Nothing really!
Yes I see how powerful India are these days and will definitely watch the documentary. Players cannot afford to miss out on the IPL these days and can see how this is going to screw up their international commitments.
P.s. I watched quite a lot of that Test at Centurion. Really good game of cricket on a really competitive wicket. That's ultimately what Test cricket needs more of is competitive matches and competitive series that are supported by competitive pitches.
I think the Test Championship is a good idea but the format is flawed. It’d be great if you could get all the Test playing nations together to play in one country over a couple months almost like a Test Cricket World Cup. Given the growing pressures of T20 cricket on the cricketing calendar and the fact that Test cricket isn’t financially viable in many countries it wouldn’t surprise if that doesn’t come to pass at some point.
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