Australia’s epic with India shows why Test game needs two-tier system

[goose]

• Michael Vaughan

Australia’s epic with India shows why Test game needs two-tier system

Staging the Ashes twice every three years is a great idea – fans want more matches between the very best

 

 

Watching Australia take on India has provided six joyous and dramatic weeks Down Under. It is a series that has captured national and global attention while showing off the very best of Test cricket.

It has been a series, though, that has only served to strengthen my views on where the game is headed and what administrators should be looking at. I believe it is a four-day product with a set number of overs each day enforced, three matches minimum per series, and two divisions of six, including promotion and relegation. I would also have three or four month-long windows per year for Tests, leaving the rest for domestic cricket and ICC events, and try to get Tests happening concurrently as much as possible to raise the drama and interest in the format.

 

So I was delighted to read the ICC are considering a two-tier structure from 2027 which could see the Ashes staged twice every three years. I have been saying for a long time this is the way to keep Test cricket relevant by ensuring the best play the best as often as possible, and we get fewer mismatches.

There have been some great upsets over the last year or two – West Indies winning at the Gabba and Sri Lanka at the Oval spring to mind – but they are few and far between. Also a once-in-a-blue-moon event is what we saw at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, a game that produces a result having gone deep into the fifth day. As I say, generally the game is a four-day product now, with 2024 containing the fewest draws ever, the fastest scoring ever and the most regular fall of wickets ever. This series in Australia contained just 1,455 overs, and two of the Tests were over well inside three days.

There is much to iron out before any major changes are made for 2027, but there is time. Fundamentally I hold this view because I want to give fans, whether watching in the ground or on TV, what they want. After a pretty drab couple of summers in Australia and the same in England last summer, the viewing figures and attendances were through the roof over the last few weeks.

Whatever you think of those pitches in Sydney this week we had 47,000 each day and they were royally entertained, and could not take their eyes off a single ball. More than 830,000 people attended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. That is obviously an incredible number that cannot be achieved every series, but we need to aspire to sell grounds out and the best way to do that is to have close series.

 

In terms of details, to make a two-tier Test Championship work, I would mandate that each team plays the same number of games in a cycle, so we do not get the bizarre situation in which England play 22 and South Africa 12, as we have had this time. Alongside the final, I would have a promotion play-off, that would see the team top of tier two host the team bottom of tier one for a place in the top flight of the next cycle. I think this would benefit the teams in tier two, because they would not be subject to dull mismatches either.

I have no doubt that there will be people disappointed to hear that West Indies or Bangladesh, perhaps even some other well-loved teams, would miss out on the top flight. They have provided some great moments but more often than not they struggle against the top teams and without radical change, sadly the sums do not add up.

Another issue that would need ironing out would be if a nation like England were relegated, because we would lose the Ashes and some of the big crowds. Perhaps you carve out a way to keep the Ashes come what may because it is a flagship series, perhaps we have to just accept that if they are not in the same division they do not meet. Tough.

There are some great rivalries at the moment, but the format is really missing India v Pakistan. I appreciate there are a lot of politics involved there, but we have to find a way to get those two teams playing one another again, because it is just box office. The crowds this summer and the fallout over the Champions Trophy venues make me feel we need to really push for it to take place in England or Australia. It would sell out.

As an Englishman, it has been a very interesting summer to be in Australia with so much drama, controversy and new players like Sam Konstas and Nitish Kumar Reddy from each team. After they lost in Perth, I truly thought Australia were an ageing team on the slide. But their recovery in this series was outstanding. Every time there was an hour to be seized with the game in the balance, they seized it. They also caught better than India, and they made tough selection calls at key moments, leaving out Nathan McSweeney and Mitch Marsh. It was a reminder of how cosy we can be with selection in England, being nice to nice people, and that the best time to change a team is actually when you are winning.

 

We talk a lot in England about the attributes required to win in Australia, but the fundamental is having outstanding players, whatever their skill set, and seizing the biggest moments. India had some outstanding performers here, not least Jasprit Bumrah, and will leave reflecting on what could have been had their senior core of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stood up. The team actually did not play great, but still could have won.

Before the Ashes, England play India. There is a lot of talk about Kohli’s future but I hope he has at least one more series in him. England will obviously target that fifth stump line, as Pat Cummins and Scott Boland did, but with less bounce I still think he has a big series in him.

 

 

 

[goose]

i'm in two minds, i'm not sure i want the big three to play each other more often.

 

and stick to 5 day tests please. you don't know how the game will evolve, so don't mess around

[BacktoCricaddict]

9 minutes ago, goose said:

There is a lot of talk about Kohli’s future but I hope he has at least one more series in him

Please, please no. How many times do we need to go through this?

[cowboysfan]

the WTC is the best thing to happen to test cricket,every game is important which was not the case before it started.a 2 tier system will kill Test cricket in countries like Sr lanka .

[goose]

1 minute ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Please, please no. How many times do we need to go through this?

 

i'm sure you know but to be clear the OP is an article by Vaughan

[deepdynamo]

The current system is just fine.

 

In any case India play home and away with Aus and Eng in 4 year cycle. That's a marquee series every year.

 

Ashes happens every two year. Now what they want- An Ashes per year?

 

Infact we should play more longer series with SA and NZ. 

[sensible-indian]

We dont need 2 tier system.

 

We need test series tournaments like LOIs.

 

Say all teams flying to SA to play a series.

 

Multiple games happening simultaneously (since demand for test is low we dont need to run one game at a time).

 

This way you make advertising revenue via volume.

 

Then teams meet each other in knockouts and finals.

 

This way we can have multiple test tournaments in different countries.

 

Will be insanely fun.

 

Ideally if we figure out a way to nuetralize the toss luck factor, even better.

 

Go for day night tests.

 

For the time being, tests in subcontinent can be day tests to account for dew.

Edited January 7 by sensible-indian

[vvvslaxman]

2 hours ago, goose said:

i'm in two minds, i'm not sure i want the big three to play each other more often.

 

and stick to 5 day tests please. you don't know how the game will evolve, so don't mess around

 

There will be an increase there. Upside is we don't have to play against Bangladesh ever in Tests. Total waste of time. Also Srilanka , West Indies. Needless home/away series.Definitely statistics will look very different if this comes into play. No more WI, SL, BD bashing to boost the stats.  Since we don't play Pakistan our workload will be far less than before.

[BacktoCricaddict]

2 hours ago, goose said:

 

i'm sure you know but to be clear the OP is an article by Vaughan

Oh ... I screamed loud enough when read it that Vaughan prolly heard me :-).

[Lone Wolf]

India deserves to move to tier 2 for being clean swept at home to a 6th ranked average NZ side.

 

Tier 1

Aus

SA

Eng (Eng won away from home vs NZ & are unbeaten in SA for a while)

SL dominant at home off late & won a test in Eng

 

Tier 2

India 

NZ (NZ too lost at home)

Pak

WI

 

 

BCCI deserves humiliation and  more for selecting Ro Ko Fraudeja and not developing quicks 

[LordPrabhzy]

3 hours ago, deepdynamo said:

The current system is just fine.

 

In any case India play home and away with Aus and Eng in 4 year cycle. That's a marquee series every year.

 

Ashes happens every two year. Now what they want- An Ashes per year?

 

Infact we should play more longer series with SA and NZ. 

why? SA and NZ themselves have said they cannot afford to play more than 2 test series as it is very expensive for them to.

 

I dont think the two tier system will work financially- India ( BCCI ( is not interested in Test cricket to improving in it more specifically) if they had a choice to play longer IPL they would go for it. All other countries barring Aus and Eng dont really want to playtests and focus on T20s. In that case just make Ashes a yearly exhibition series to keep them happy and the rest just focus on T20.

 

As a test purist it pains me but my own board isn't serious along with the players and remaining 80% of countries are not either so why flog a dead horse? These crowds in Aus  will only come for Eng or India so its not a recuring theme for every tour that happens there

[goose]

1 hour ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

There will be an increase there. Upside is we don't have to play against Bangladesh ever in Tests. Total waste of time. Also Srilanka , West Indies. Needless home/away series.Definitely statistics will look very different if this comes into play. No more WI, SL, BD bashing to boost the stats.  Since we don't play Pakistan our workload will be far less than before.

 

i care only about away tours to Aus, Eng, NZ, and RSA. i would like all these to be marquee events. bgt in Aus will always be the end of the year. last 3 tours have been three years apart and it's felt spot on. 2 years would be too frequent.

 

[vvvslaxman]

1 minute ago, goose said:

 

i care only about away tours to Aus, Eng, NZ, and RSA. i would like all these to be marquee events. bgt in Aus will always be the end of the year. last 3 tours have been three years apart and it's felt spot on. 2 years would be too frequent.

 

 

RSA and NZ are not overly enthused about hosting long test series as it is a loss for them. For instance recent early this year T20 tour by India to SA  made SA board richer by 35 million which is roughly one million more than they made during India's T20/ODI/Test  tour to SA in the year 2023.  The T20 team did not have Kohli, ROhit any of the superstars. THey didn't make the same amount money from the Test series. So given that we don't play pakistan we have only 4 teams to play against. 2 don't want to play that often. 

 

[vvvslaxman]

This is a fascinating conversation between Graeme smith and Athers/Nass . Graeme smith's explanation about why hosting Tests is a challenge.  Thsi discussion  Starts around 27:00

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgSqBvolXB0&t=1634s

 

Edited January 7 by vvvslaxman

[Muloghonto]

12 hours ago, goose said:

• Michael Vaughan

Australia’s epic with India shows why Test game needs two-tier system

Staging the Ashes twice every three years is a great idea – fans want more matches between the very best

 

 

Watching Australia take on India has provided six joyous and dramatic weeks Down Under. It is a series that has captured national and global attention while showing off the very best of Test cricket.

It has been a series, though, that has only served to strengthen my views on where the game is headed and what administrators should be looking at. I believe it is a four-day product with a set number of overs each day enforced, three matches minimum per series, and two divisions of six, including promotion and relegation. I would also have three or four month-long windows per year for Tests, leaving the rest for domestic cricket and ICC events, and try to get Tests happening concurrently as much as possible to raise the drama and interest in the format.

 

So I was delighted to read the ICC are considering a two-tier structure from 2027 which could see the Ashes staged twice every three years. I have been saying for a long time this is the way to keep Test cricket relevant by ensuring the best play the best as often as possible, and we get fewer mismatches.

There have been some great upsets over the last year or two – West Indies winning at the Gabba and Sri Lanka at the Oval spring to mind – but they are few and far between. Also a once-in-a-blue-moon event is what we saw at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, a game that produces a result having gone deep into the fifth day. As I say, generally the game is a four-day product now, with 2024 containing the fewest draws ever, the fastest scoring ever and the most regular fall of wickets ever. This series in Australia contained just 1,455 overs, and two of the Tests were over well inside three days.

There is much to iron out before any major changes are made for 2027, but there is time. Fundamentally I hold this view because I want to give fans, whether watching in the ground or on TV, what they want. After a pretty drab couple of summers in Australia and the same in England last summer, the viewing figures and attendances were through the roof over the last few weeks.

Whatever you think of those pitches in Sydney this week we had 47,000 each day and they were royally entertained, and could not take their eyes off a single ball. More than 830,000 people attended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. That is obviously an incredible number that cannot be achieved every series, but we need to aspire to sell grounds out and the best way to do that is to have close series.

 

In terms of details, to make a two-tier Test Championship work, I would mandate that each team plays the same number of games in a cycle, so we do not get the bizarre situation in which England play 22 and South Africa 12, as we have had this time. Alongside the final, I would have a promotion play-off, that would see the team top of tier two host the team bottom of tier one for a place in the top flight of the next cycle. I think this would benefit the teams in tier two, because they would not be subject to dull mismatches either.

I have no doubt that there will be people disappointed to hear that West Indies or Bangladesh, perhaps even some other well-loved teams, would miss out on the top flight. They have provided some great moments but more often than not they struggle against the top teams and without radical change, sadly the sums do not add up.

Another issue that would need ironing out would be if a nation like England were relegated, because we would lose the Ashes and some of the big crowds. Perhaps you carve out a way to keep the Ashes come what may because it is a flagship series, perhaps we have to just accept that if they are not in the same division they do not meet. Tough.

There are some great rivalries at the moment, but the format is really missing India v Pakistan. I appreciate there are a lot of politics involved there, but we have to find a way to get those two teams playing one another again, because it is just box office. The crowds this summer and the fallout over the Champions Trophy venues make me feel we need to really push for it to take place in England or Australia. It would sell out.

As an Englishman, it has been a very interesting summer to be in Australia with so much drama, controversy and new players like Sam Konstas and Nitish Kumar Reddy from each team. After they lost in Perth, I truly thought Australia were an ageing team on the slide. But their recovery in this series was outstanding. Every time there was an hour to be seized with the game in the balance, they seized it. They also caught better than India, and they made tough selection calls at key moments, leaving out Nathan McSweeney and Mitch Marsh. It was a reminder of how cosy we can be with selection in England, being nice to nice people, and that the best time to change a team is actually when you are winning.

 

We talk a lot in England about the attributes required to win in Australia, but the fundamental is having outstanding players, whatever their skill set, and seizing the biggest moments. India had some outstanding performers here, not least Jasprit Bumrah, and will leave reflecting on what could have been had their senior core of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stood up. The team actually did not play great, but still could have won.

Before the Ashes, England play India. There is a lot of talk about Kohli’s future but I hope he has at least one more series in him. England will obviously target that fifth stump line, as Pat Cummins and Scott Boland did, but with less bounce I still think he has a big series in him.

 

 

 

 

Vaughan is a dude who is smart but thinks of himself as way smarter than he is. I tihnk the biggest facking flaw of this system is that it will in the medium term, PROLIFERATE the presence of the Dravids, chanderpauls,Kallises, etc in the world and completely kill the game once and for all in blockathon draws in 4 days.

Like..can u imagine a Dravid or Chandy having to play out inings to draw a game with 1 LESS day to play ? like..omg. Welcome to the test hell of  330 & 120/2 vs 400 & DNB type of draw hells.

Like dont get me wrong, these guys are sometimes great to watch PRECISELY because the duration most often is crazy and only sometimes it works. I dont think test cricket will survive the dravids and chanders dropping anchor across each end and going  'okie, 35 not out from 200 balls each plz' becoming the default mode of batting.

 

 

[goose]

7 hours ago, Muloghonto said:

 

Vaughan is a dude who is smart but thinks of himself as way smarter than he is. I tihnk the biggest facking flaw of this system is that it will in the medium term, PROLIFERATE the presence of the Dravids, chanderpauls,Kallises, etc in the world and completely kill the game once and for all in blockathon draws in 4 days.

Like..can u imagine a Dravid or Chandy having to play out inings to draw a game with 1 LESS day to play ? like..omg. Welcome to the test hell of  330 & 120/2 vs 400 & DNB type of draw hells.

Like dont get me wrong, these guys are sometimes great to watch PRECISELY because the duration most often is crazy and only sometimes it works. I dont think test cricket will survive the dravids and chanders dropping anchor across each end and going  'okie, 35 not out from 200 balls each plz' becoming the default mode of batting.

 

 

 

 i don't think it will happen. the best test (according to players) of the most watched test series just concluded went 15 sessions. amending the format to accommodate recent falling batting standards is just wrong and shortsighted

 

[Need4Speed]

Yes..Move India to low tier till they keep playing oldies..