ECB and CA opt for different stances in lieu of 2-Tier Test Cricket, with the former wary to it and the latter open for it.
ECB and CA on different sides of the spectrum for Two-tier model for Test cricket.
A two-tiered World Test Championship (WTC) is not something the ECB is interested in because relegation may put England out of the same league as Australia or India, perhaps depriving them of their two most lucrative rivalries.
A working committee headed by former New Zealand batsman Roger Twose was established by the ICC last month to investigate a number of issues, including enhancing the WTC in preparation for the upcoming cycle, which starts in July 2027. One of the most important subjects at the July ICC annual meeting was a two-tier system. It is anticipated that Twose, who represents NZC on the ICC Board, will provide the board with recommendations.
On the first day of the Oval Test between England and India last week, ECB chairman Richard Thompson told BBC’s Test Match Special that Test cricket had suffered greatly in most countries and that the value of bilateral cricket was declining due to a “congested” calendar overtaken by T20 leagues. Thompson stated that although the ICC was considering a two-tier plan for Test cricket, he was unsure if it was ideal.
“There’s a lot of options that we’ve got to look at – tiers would be one of them,” he said. “We wouldn’t want, as England, we may go through a fallow period, and that means, what, we fall into Division Two and we don’t play Australia and India? That couldn’t happen. There has to be a sense that common sense needs to play out here.”
“The World Test Championship could work better than it does. It has definitely improved the narrative, [and] it has created a relevance,” Thompson said. “Seeing what it meant for South Africa to win – who are crushed by rugby in their own country – and seeing players I know really well, like Graeme Smith, in tears on the outfield, that was a real moment seeing them win. As much as I was critical that they turned up with a ‘B’ team when they played New Zealand [in 2024], it was still good for the game when the underdog wins.
“But the reality of it is, the World Test Championship, if it was improved upon and certain changes were made, maybe you don’t need two tiers of Test cricket. What you do need is a schedule that makes a lot more sense than it currently does, and that must include the volume of bilateral cricket that you play, white-ball and red-ball, and recognising that from 2028, we have an Olympics.
“So what happens in 2028, when we have an Olympics, and our best 11 cricketers have got to go to LA for two weeks in the middle of July? That is going to throw up some challenges.”