Aussie implications of a two-tier Test system

As Steve Smith's team prepares for the three-week ODI tri-series in the Caribbean, confirmation that Test cricket might be split into two tiers to help ensure its survival means the once epic Test battles between Australia and the West Indies could be consigned to history.

ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson told a media conference that the need to engender Test cricket with "some meaning to these series beyond the (current ICC) rankings and a trophy" meant the current complement of 10 Test nations would likely be expanded, but split into two divisions.

"If we really want Test cricket to survive, we can't have the number of Test teams diminishing," Richardson said at the launch of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy ODI tournament in London.

"We have to create a proper competition structure which provides promotion and relegation and opportunities to get to the top.

"We could probably make it work in 2019 because hopefully whatever we implement will be better than the current arrangement.

"It's the sooner the better as far as we're concerned.

"We might need to have some negotiations with broadcasters who have deals in place, but they might be willing to change.

"This is a marvellous opportunity for the game."

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Plans for the revamp of Test cricket, which struggles to draw crowds in most competing nations other than Australia, England and South Africa could be unveiled as soon as coming weeks.

But while details of how that radical new concept would look are yet to be finalised and will ultimately depend on ICC Board approval, it is understood a preferred model involves the top seven Test nations competing in division one for the title of world Test champion.

The second tier would be expanded to five teams (with inclusion in that division earned by the best performed associate nations) with promotion and relegation opportunities being decided across the concept's two-year playing cycle.

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On the current ICC Test standings, that would mean Australia, India, Pakistan, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka would compete against one another (home or away) in series comprised of a minimum of three Tests each throughout each two-year period.

The West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would make up the second tier along with current associate nations such as Ireland, Nepal and Afghanistan, and their capacity to win promotion would be decided by results and potentially playoffs against the lowest ranked top-tier nation.

It is understood the concept retains the right for nations in either division to schedule additional bilateral series with one another, which ensures marquee series such as the Ashes would continue regardless of whether the rival teams found themselves in different divisions.

But the future of other historic rivalries such as the Frank Worrell Trophy, once regarded as the pre-eminent Test cricket battle until the West Indies began their decline as a Test power around the turn of this century, could face an uncertain future.

The appetite and opportunity for Test competition between Australia and the West Indies has rapidly declined over recent decades.

When Clive Lloyd's team toured Australia in 1975-76, a precursor to the West Indies' domination of Test cricket for the subsequent 20 years, they played six Tests and the Australians routinely played five on their highly anticipated visits to the Caribbean through until 1991.

But as the gulf between the teams' respective fortunes widened, so too did the Test match schedule dwindle to the extent that Australia's Caribbean odyssey last year comprised the bare minimum two Tests under the ICC's bilateral guidelines, and the West Indies reciprocal visit to Australia featured just three.

Two of which resulted in thumping wins to Australia, with the third a heavily rain-affected draw.

Of even greater significance to the likelihood of them meeting in the same division is the West Indies recent overall Test record, which would suggest elevation from a second tier Test structure might prove far from straightforward.

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Their only Test series victories in the past decade have come against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh (twice), New Zealand and England (a 1-0 victory in the five-Test series of 2009 in the Caribbean).

They have defeated Sri Lanka – the team immediately above them on the current rankings and the one they would need to displace if the two-tier system was introduced today – just once in the nine Tests contested between the two teams this century.

And they have not won a Test series on foreign soil apart from in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe since Courtney Walsh led his team to a 1-0 win over Ken Rutherford's Black Caps in New Zealand in 1995.

Given the likely crammed nature of each two-year playing scheduled, with Richardson confirming yesterday there will now be an additional World T20 tournament in 2018, it will be tough for Australian and West Indies officials to find a place for the Frank Worrell Trophy matches beyond their other playing commitments.

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Former Test captain Steve Waugh, who led Australia on their last significant (ie four-Test) series in the Caribbean in 2003, today offered cautious support for the two-tier concept which has been mooted many times over recent years.

"I think it's worth having a look at," Waugh told Melbourne radio station SEN this morning.

"It's not something new, I remember talking about it on the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) Cricket Committee about 10 years ago and there's definitely some merit there.

"I think teams like Ireland and Afghanistan have got the potential to be Test nations, and Zimbabwe at the moment are probably not good enough to play Test cricket so I don't think anyone has a God-given right to play Test cricket without being challenged.

"It's definitely got some merits so it should be looked at and we probably need to expand it to one more Test nation if they're good enough to play.

"Both Ireland and Afghanistan could potentially be good enough."

But West Indian allrounder Dwayne Bravo, who played the last of his 40 Tests in 2010 and has since plied his trade as a global limited-overs specialist, criticised the proposal claiming it would not be sufficient to arrest the sliding popularity and relevance of the Test game.

"It will struggle because of the shorter formats of the game," the 32-year-old Trinidadian told Sky Sports in the UK where he is playing for Surrey in the domestic T20 competition.

"I think people just have to face reality – times change.

"Kids realise that it will benefit them financially if they play the shorter format of the game.

"As professional players, this is what you do for a living.

"So it's common sense, if you weigh it up, if it doesn't benefit you financially – players know and make decisions for their family and their careers."

And injured England seamer Mark Wood, who was part of last year's Ashes-winning line-up but is currently sidelined following ankle surgery, also voiced his opposition to the planned changes that Richardson claims are needed to add "meaning and context" to Test cricket.

"I don't know if that would make it more competitive with the two divisions but I'd like to leave it the way it is," Wood said.

"Representing your country and playing against all countries in different conditions is a huge challenge in itself.

"So for me I would like it to stay as it is."

Australia begins its involvement in the ODI tri-series, which also features the West Indies and South Africa, against the host team at Guyana's Providence Stadium on Monday (3am AEST, Fox Sports 5)

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And given the recent success of the West Indies' men and women at the 2016 World T20 event in India, the appeal of white-ball cricket in the Caribbean is only likely to grow further at the expense of the Test format.

For that reason West Indian fans, who seem far more likely to see Australian teams in coloured uniforms rather than the traditional Test strip in coming years, will be celebrating the ICC"s decision to stage an additional global 20-over showpiece in 2018 rather than making it a four-yearly event as announced earlier this year.

Richardson has indicated the next World T20 in 2018 "would involve a minimum of 16 teams" and is expected to be staged in either South Africa, Sri Lanka or the UAE (where Pakistan plays a bulk of its international cricket) with Australia already named as the tournament's host in 2020.