Could we ever see a Test Cricket World Cup?

[Aerie]

I would like to see a Test World Cup every 4 years. I think they could fit the whole tournament in around the same time as the One Day World Cup which is approx 7 weeks. It would be a gruelling schedule, but it is Test Cricket. If you made the final you'd play six Test matches, each nation would play a minimum of 4. Here's how I see it....

Ten Test Playing Nations into two Groups of 5
Points are allocated as they are in the Pura Cup. Top two from each group go to Semi Finals.

Group A
Australia
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
New Zealand
Zimbabwe

Group B
England
India
South Africa
West Indies
Bangladesh

FIVE ROUNDS (each team has one bye)
SEMI FINAL
FINAL

Round 1 – Thu 22nd – Mon 26th Nov
GA1 Australia vs New Zealand GABBA
GA2 Sri Lanka vs Pakistan MANUKA
GB1 England vs West Indies MCG
GB2 South Africa vs India WACA

Round 2 – Fri 30th Dec – Tue 4th Dec
GA3 Australia vs Pakistan ADELAIDE OVAL
GA4 Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka NEWCASTLE
GB3 England vs India SCG
GB4 Bangladesh vs South Africa BELLERIVE

Round 3 – Fri 7th – Tue 11th Dec
GA5 New Zealand vs Zimbabwe AUCKLAND
GA6 Australia vs Sri Lanka WACA
GB5 West Indies vs Bangladesh NORTH SYDNEY
GB6 England vs South Africa GABBA

Round 4 – Fri 14th – Tue 18th Dec
GA7 New Zealand vs Sri Lanka CHRISTCHURCH
GA8 Pakistan vs Zimbabwe BELLERIVE
GB7 West Indies vs South Africa TELSTRA DOME
GB8 India vs Bangladesh ADELAIDE OVAL

Round 5 – Wed 26th – Sun 30th Dec
GA9 Australia vs Zimbabwe MCG
GA10 New Zealand vs Pakistan WELLINGTON
GB9 England vs Bangladesh WACA
GB10 West Indies vs India MANUKA

Semi Finals – Wed 2nd – Sun 6th Jan
G11 A1 vs B2 SCG
G12 B1 vs A2 ADELAIDE OVAL

Final – Fri 12th – Tue 16th Jan
Winner G11 vs Winner G12 MCG

Would this be at all possible????

[bayman]

i like the idea but i doubt it'd get off the ground, plus what if one game gets washed out & stops a team progressing through to the next round ? & finally would all teams go to one country for an extended period which would hurt home sides revenue for missing out on their own home test series eg if we held it in australia it is also the same time as south africa & nz would have their home test series or would we share it around ie the southern hemisphere test countries then we could see a test match from nz then from australia followed by the test from south africa at night ?

i know it'd suit cricket tragics like my friend mal

[MightyEagles]

Good idea, just won't happen. It'll just take too long.

[rod_rooster]

I think the weather factor would make it unlikely to happen. One day cricket can have reserve days scheduled plus the Duckworth Lewis sytem helps as well (although not the ideal solution). Draws resulting from weather factors could influence the outcome far too much IMHO. Otherwise it is a great idea.

[Rik E Boy]

Good call Aerie but I can't see it happening. A lot of Aussie tracks are fairly flat at the moment so getting results might be problematic.

My view is that there is nothing wrong with the Test cricket 'championship' as it stands now, but perhaps they should only ever allow eight test playing nations. All of the second tier nations matches should be included as first class (and not test) matches only. Team eight drops out after four years and Team nine gets promoted at the same time. That way schedules wouldn't be so crowded by having to play numbnuts teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

I think 'second tier' nations would actually further their development by playing in the second 'division' for four years and playing the 14 series in that time, with only the best getting to play teams 1-7. Imagine how desperate the next West Indies vs. New Zealand series could be if they were faced with the loss of their test status for four years? Bangladesh, for example could come up into top 'flight' cricket with four years of a winning culture behind them, rather than getting flogged left right and centre by teams such as Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia.

regards,

REB

[westozfalcon]

This is a very good idea and quite well thought out by Aerie with the fixturing plan etc.

I think that it would be better however if the qualifiers were spread over a period of at least 12 months in different countries incorporating both northern and southern hemisphere summers. That way every team involved could at least get a Test or two on their home patch.

Then you could have the 'Finals' in a particular country/region.

[blink]

It is a great idea, but unfortunatley due to commercial reasons, it will probably never happen. Money rules and ruins all.

Test Matches would have to be staggered, TV stations wouldn't want all four matches played at the same time, because they would only be able to show one on the TV. Staggering the matches more would make the time frame for the cup strech to half a year. WestOzFalcon's idea is a good one, having the matches played world-wide.