ECB and CA clash over ICC's proposed two-tier test cricket model

ICC has proposed a two-tier WTC system for test cricket with teams separated in two groups.

Two of the biggest cricketing boards in the world, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA), have come at loggerheads on the issue of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) proposed two-tier system in test cricket.

A two-tiered World Test Championship (WTC) is not something that 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 New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on the ICC Board, will provide the board with recommendations.

ECB not in favor of two-tiered test system

Under the suggested concept, which has been debated for more than 15 years, promotions and relegations would be determined by performance. Although ECB chairman Richard Thompson cautioned that this concept would devalue the value of the top bilateral series, it might increase the competitiveness of Test cricket.

Thompson claimed that because there are so many T20 leagues on the calendar, test cricket is already having trouble on a global scale. Although he acknowledged that the two-tier model is being discussed, he said it might harm cricket boards’ bottom lines that mostly depend on high-profile test series like the Ashes or intense matches against India.

“There are a lot of options that we’ve got to look at—tiers would be one of them. We wouldn’t want, as England, to 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,” Thompson told BCC TMS.

The ECB chairman thinks it would be wiser to enhance the present WCT rather than establish a two-tier structure for Test cricket. Thompson acknowledged that the WTC has problems, especially with regard to its schedule. He said the competition will strengthen with a better, more balanced schedule that includes both Test and white-ball versions.

Bigger nations should support smaller teams: CA CEO Todd Greenberg

According to Todd Greenberg, CEO of Cricket Australia, in order to maintain the health of test cricket, larger cricketing nations must assist smaller ones. He underlined that nations like India, England, and Australia had to assist others in creating robust domestic institutions.

According to Greenberg, it is crucial to maintain the competitiveness of test cricket sides such as South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, and the West Indies. He believes that their strength enhances the entire format and maintains the global balance and excitement of test cricket.

“My open mind is in reference to whether it helps grow the opportunities for those other countries to be stronger and have better resources in Test match cricket. If it does that, then I’m open to it. But if it doesn’t achieve that, and it actually affects the opposite, then I wouldn’t be supportive.

Talking to CEOs of the West Indies and other [boards], when I was with them recently, everyone’s got a very open mind to this because they know that we’re going to need some level of change in order to extract value in this part of the game,” Greenberg told ESPNCricinfo.

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