A dream project of the International Cricket Council, the ICC Test Championships finally got off the ground on August 1, 2019, with the final scheduled for June 10-14, 2021, at Lords. After two failed attempts in 2010 and 2017, ICC had managed to set the ball rolling, despite much criticism of its rather "lop-sided" points system that seemed to reward teams playing fewer Test matches in a bilateral series.
That said, it was time for on-field action soon and till the forced suspension of all sporting activity in mid-March, India (360 points) and Australia (296) were the top-dogs indeed.
But with international travel extremely restricted and sporting contests coming under new post-Covid19 regulations, it seems the June date for the conclusion of the maiden ICC Test Championships may be pretty ambitious, to put it very mildly.
England are all set to take the field from July 8 at home against the West Indies, followed by Pakistan.
With teams,however, not able to adhere to the ICC's Future Tours Programme due to prevalent conditions beyond human control appears to have definitely put a spanner in the works. The high powered ICC managing board will have to decide whether to push the entire competition back by a full 12 months or plain and simple abandon it.
The delay will push the next edition back as well in the inevitable cascading effect. But if the Test Championships are abandoned, the signal may not be the right one as ICC tries to gain better following of the red/pink ball cricket, as some have begun to refer to Test matches.
Adding an extra zing to the five-day contests was at the root of the launch of the ICC Test Championships. But it seems there may not be many choices left before ICC as time flies by.
That said, it was time for on-field action soon and till the forced suspension of all sporting activity in mid-March, India (360 points) and Australia (296) were the top-dogs indeed.
But with international travel extremely restricted and sporting contests coming under new post-Covid19 regulations, it seems the June date for the conclusion of the maiden ICC Test Championships may be pretty ambitious, to put it very mildly.
England are all set to take the field from July 8 at home against the West Indies, followed by Pakistan.
With teams,however, not able to adhere to the ICC's Future Tours Programme due to prevalent conditions beyond human control appears to have definitely put a spanner in the works. The high powered ICC managing board will have to decide whether to push the entire competition back by a full 12 months or plain and simple abandon it.
The delay will push the next edition back as well in the inevitable cascading effect. But if the Test Championships are abandoned, the signal may not be the right one as ICC tries to gain better following of the red/pink ball cricket, as some have begun to refer to Test matches.
Adding an extra zing to the five-day contests was at the root of the launch of the ICC Test Championships. But it seems there may not be many choices left before ICC as time flies by.
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