'World Test Championship hasn’t achieved what it intended to do,' ICC chairman Greg Barclay hints at discontinuing WTC
Freshly elected chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Greg Barclay opined that the ambitious World Test Championship (WTC) hasn't achieved what it intended to.
The WTC, a league competition for Test matches, was designed to infuse some relevance to bilateral Test cricket. The league which started on August 1, 2019, included a bilateral itinerary with home and away tours for every participating country.
The teams with the most points were to contest in a final at the epochal Lords in England.
Recently, due to disruptions arising due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ICC had decided to change the format of the points table making 'percentage of points' as the criteria. Many, including Indian captain Virat Kohli had expressed confusion over the decision.
Greg Barclay, when asked whether the WTC achieved its goal said:
“In short, I don’t think so. The COVID has probably highlighted its shortcomings of the championship.”
According to him, the issues surrounding the packed bilateral schedules and workload management for the athletes can be traced back to the WTC.
“...the issues that we have already got, I wonder whether some of it was because of an attempt to develop a Test Championship, clearly designed to drive interest back into Test cricket, provide a bit of context and relevance around the Test matches,” Greg Barclay told at a virtual press conference.
“From an idealist’s point of view, probably it had a lot of merit but practically, I do disagree, I am not sure whether it has achieved what it intended to do,” the New Zealander who took charge this month, added.
Greg Barclay hints towards WTC's discontinuation
Before his instation, Greg Barclay was seen as a staunch advocate of bilateral cricket over multinational tournaments. In line with these views, he dropped a hint about discontinuing the WTC after the inaugural edition concludes next year.
Barclay said:
“My personal view is let’s get through with the little bit that we can in this COVID-19, with reallocation of points and all that but once we have done that, let’s go back to the drawing board as I am not quite sure whether it (WTC) entirely fits the purpose and has achieved what it intended to after being conceptualised four to five years back."
The upcoming West Indies-New Zealand Test series starting December 3 and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia beginning on December 17 are the next fixtures of the WTC.