The Edge: how a world Test championship could work

The Sunday Times Cricket Correspondent suggests a way of hosting cricket's 'majors', questions Strauss's decision to bowl and lists the South Africa players with Dutch or French names

A world Test championship final could be staged in England in 2011, according to Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, who attended the opening of the South Africa-England series in Centurion.

The idea of a world championship final has been around for some time and the ICC recently gave the issue fresh impetus by setting up a working party headed by David Richardson, its general manager, to look into the best means of establishing one.

It appears, though, that the leading nations are in broad agreement that Test cricket needs a focal point and that a showpiece game, with the jostling for qualifying places near the top of the Test rankings, could provide just that. At about the same time as Lorgat was speaking in Centurion, the ICC president David Morgan was saying in London that there could be “real progress soon” on a “climax” to a world Test championship.

Lorgat says that the ICC’s aim is to attract more third-party interest to Tests. At the moment, most Test matches are followed closely only by die-hard fans and those who support the two teams involved. Lorgat believes that if places in a championship semi-final or final were up for grabs, cricket fans would be drawn into watching any game that might affect their team’s chances.

The original hope was that a biennial championship final might be introduced with the new Future Tours Programme which starts in 2012. However with Lord’s having been identified as the obvious choice to stage an inaugural final because of its status as the “home of cricket” and its excellent record of selling tickets, 2012 is a non-starter due to London’s staging of the Olympic Games.

The following year, 2013, is an Ashes summer in England, so thoughts have moved to bringing the proposed championship final forward - provided, of course, that an acceptable plan can be put before the ICC’s annual meeting next June.

The Edge’s main quibble with this idea is that it would place the climax to a world Test championship in the same year as the 50-overs World Cup. If a world Test championship and the two limited-overs World Cups - spanning 20 overs and 50 overs - are to flourish independently of each other, each event must be held in a separate year - and held every three years, so that every year sees one of cricket’s three “majors” being held.

One of the chief tasks facing Richardson’s committee is deciding how a knockout match such as a semi-final or final would be resolved in the event of a draw. First-innings lead is one option being considered. But Lorgat believes that modern teams are conditioned to going for the win and that given good weather draws would be rare.

Getting the call wrong

Was Andrew Strauss misled by the extravagant green appearance of the pitch 24 hours before the first Test in South Africa? It was certainly a striking colour and generated much media debate about what sort of attacks the teams might select. Strauss urged caution, warning that it was dangerous to read too much into pitches the day before a game, but his ultimate decision to bowl first - even though the pitch had taken on a much paler hue - was nevertheless striking.

It was the first time in 11 won tosses as Test captain that Strauss had opted not to bat and Graeme Smith did say - admittedly, maybe he had to say this - that South Africa would have batted first had they had the choice.

Perhaps it was a 50-50 decision and Strauss was going to be damned either way. But bowling first did appear to run contrary to his justification a few days ago for picking six batsmen and only four bowlers, which was that four bowlers could be enough if your six batsmen can create “scoreboard pressure”. Surely, then, bat first and bat big.

His decision with the toss didn’t back up the strategy he had espoused.

It was also a risky course of action given that his three fast bowlers were so obviously ring-rusty. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions have all had fitness issues on this tour and all have been short of their best form with the red ball.

They were inevitably going to be feeling their way into the series, probably more so than the batsmen. Better, surely, to take advantage of South Africa’s inconvenience in being without Dale Steyn or Jacques Kallis’s bowling.

Broad was chronically lacking in rhythm in the warm-up matches and Anderson is on an increasingly desperate search for a first Test wicket since he had Shane Watson caught behind three Test matches ago. He went wicketless in the Leeds and Oval Tests and his desperation was apparent during 23 fruitless overs at Centurion.

When Strauss asked Anderson whether he wanted to ask for a review of his rejected lbw appeal against Jacques Kallis it was pretty obvious Anderson was going to say, “Yes please, skip.” But the replays suggested the ball had hit the pad outside the line of the stumps and hit bat at the same time as pad. To get a decision overturned the evidence has got to be overwhelming and if Anderson had been in a better vein of form he might have reasoned that.

Time will tell if Strauss made the right choice but after opting to bowl he would have been looking for more than four wickets in the day. Michael Vaughan put in the opposition eight times in Tests and never lost. The last England captain to lose after doing so was Nasser Hussain with his infamous bloomer at Brisbane in 2002.

All part of the plan

Graeme Smith’s dismissal - for his second Test duck in a row against England - aroused debate as to whether Stuart Broad was working to a plan. Did the England camp think Smith was perhaps susceptible to feathering a leg-side catch to the keeper? The clip off the hip is certainly one of his favourite scoring options but research suggested that although Smith has been caught behind off fast bowlers in international cricket around 40 times, this might be the first time it had happened down the leg side.

Where are you, fair maiden?

Another extraordinary bat-fest was seen in Jaipur this week, with India and Sri Lanka running up 825 runs between them in 100 overs. Curiously, both captains afterwards chided their batsmen for having not made as many runs as they felt they should have done. But spare a thought for the 13 bowlers, not one of whom managed a maiden. Some people have made a career-long habit of this, including Graeme Smith himself, none of whose 171 overs of part-time off-spin in ODIs has gone scoreless.

THE LIST: SOUTH AFRICA CRICKETERS WITH DUTCH OR FRENCH NAMES

1. Edward van der Merwe (1929)

2. Pieter van der Bijl (1938)

3. Clive van Ryneveld (1951)

4. Peter van der Merwe (1963)

5. John du Preez (1967)

6. Fanie de Villiers (1993)

7. Martin van Jaarsveld (2002)

8. Zander de Bruyn (2004)

9. AB de Villiers (2004)

10. Friedel de Wet (2009)

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Thirty-six years between Tests

The third Test between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai was the first played at the Brabourne Stadium since England visited in 1973. This week we've looked at venues that endured years of drought between international matches.

The Brabourne Stadium, built on land reclaimed from the sea and gifted to the Cricket Club of India by Lord Brabourne, was Mumbai's second Test venue after the Bombay Gymkhana ground. However, disputes between the CCI and the Bombay Cricket Association led to the BCA building the Wankhede Stadium, which then became the city's Test venue from the 1970s. The recent India-Sri Lanka Test was only held at the Brabourne because the Wankhede was being renovated for the 2011 World Cup. The gap of 36 years and 294 days between matches at the Brabourne is the largest for any Test venue, including the South African ones that were deprived of Test cricket during the country's isolation because of the apartheid regime.

The longest a South African venue went without a Test, however, was not during their international ban. St George's Park in Port Elizabeth hosted the first Test to be played outside England and Australia in 1889 and it staged two more matches before Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town took precedence over it. St George's Park went 35 years without a Test between 1914 and 1949, after which it held matches on a regular basis. It was also the venue of the last Test South Africa played before their isolation in 1970.

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India top test list

India moved to the top of the test rankings yesterday by completing a second straight innings victory over Sri Lanka.

India won by an innings and 24 runs to claim a 2-0 victory in a dominant performance across the three-test series.

Resuming at 274-6, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 309 with India paceman Zaheer Khan claiming 5-72.

Sri Lanka made 393 in their first innings, and India responded with their highest ever test score of 726-9 declared.

Sri Lanka's hopes of averting an innings defeat yesterday were shattered as Khan struck three quick blows, beginning with the dismissal of skipper Kumar Sangakkara (137), who edged the third delivery of the day to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Sangakkara's dismissal exposed the tail and Khan quickly snared Rangana Herath (3) and Nuwan Kulasekara (19) to complete his five-wicket haul.

Offspinner Harbhajan Singh had Muttiah Muralitharan (14) caught behind to complete the victory.

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Get grassroots right and Test cricket will prosper

Test cricket isn’t in need of a refurbishment, it just needs a common sense approach to developing and marketing. Cricket administrators are missing the point: most international cricketers still see Test cricket as the ultimate form of the game.

Just ask Adrian Barath, who scored a debut century against Australia in the first test, and said afterwards that growing up, all he wanted to do was play test cricket.

From this we can see that player motivation is not the problem. It comes back to the organizers of the game.

They have become so focused on developing new cricketing nations, in particular China, and shorter forms of the game, that they have forgotten to develop the game in areas such as the West Indies – nations that are established but have fallen behind in the game in recent times.

It wasn’t that long ago that the West Indies were a powerhouse in the sport, with the likes of Ambrose, Walsh, Lara, Richardson and Richards. Now they hardly provide a challenge to the quality nations and interest levels in the region are at record lows, with the recent Test not making it onto live radio in the Caribbean.

If all other cricket administrators around the around take the same view of James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, who recently declared that the troubles being seen in particular in the West Indies are not of Australian concern, then maybe we do have a bigger problem than anyone thought.

Every cricketing nation needs to take responsibility for cricket as a whole and the way it is promoted and developed around the globe.

Instead of talking about removing some nations, including the West Indies, which has been suggested, we should be looking at ways to improve the standard throughout the world.

This includes the sub-continent, or more specifically, India, with their new-found power in the game, which appears to be only interested in generating more income by any means and at any cost.

India has no Test cricket on their calendar for 2010, preferring to focus on the shorter forms of the game.

Some people, including former Australian Test spinner Shane Warne, have called for a relegation system in Test cricket whereby the ten Test playing nations (including Zimbabwe) would be divided into two groups.

The argument does have some merit in that it could provide more competitive cricket on a regular basis, as well as making teams play for the win.

But let’s think about it from a development prospective.

There would certainly be a lack of interest from nations playing in the lower division and this would lead to a lack of development in the game in these nations due to the possibility of lower sponsorship and investment into the game.

Imagine if Australia and England were to be separated by this system. No Ashes series on a regular basis!

With all the problems being seen in Test cricket, political situations are not helping in the development of the game. Unrest in Zimbabwe has seen them lose their Test playing rights, whilst Pakistan have had to resort to playing series outside of Pakistan, including the current series against New Zealand.

The ICC, along with national cricket boards, cannot control any political happenings in countries, but need to look in their own backyard and start to work to make Test cricket an attractive sport again.

This begins with grassroots development and effective marketing.

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Two-tier system crucial to saving Test cricket

AUSTRALIA was far too good for the West Indies in Brisbane, but was it a surprise? What questions were answered?

It proved that there is a massive gap between the top four or five-ranked Test teams and the bottom three or four.

Unfortunately, the worst fears about a poor West Indies team are true.

I love Test cricket, but I think it is has got to the stage where there are some things that need to be addressed.

I reckon we need a two-tier system for Test cricket with a grand final for the top two sides in a neutral venue in a one-off Test.

I love tradition and that's why I have been vocal about saving Test cricket.

I believe two tiers is the future and a grand final. Which means the fifth side in the top tier would be relegated to the bottom tier and the top team in that tier would be promoted.

I can hear people saying that there will be complications regarding sponsorship and the like. This might be true and the ICC will need to help on that one.

So how is the top five decided? The ICC rankings would get credibility as the system that determines which tier each country goes to.

The other advantage of a two-tier system is Test captains will need to play to win, to protect their spot in the top tier, which will surely result in more entertaining cricket.

Although it was good to see the Australian boys being ruthless, I'm not a big believer in the follow-on. But Ricky got it spot on and indeed spot on through the whole Test.

He also looked in super touch with the bat. For that matter, all the batters did, including the tail.

My only concern is Shane Watson. It's not because of his duck, I just know he is better suited in the middle order, right now and for the future.

What happens if he does fail a few times opening and the middle order piles on the runs against the ordinary Windies?

Where is the spot then for Watto?

He is confident now and a few failures opening could damage the space he is in. What then? Drop Watson?

No way.

Australian selectors cannot let this happen. Watson in the Australian team is a must.

It's great that he wants to open, but that is a short-term solution.

The start of the summer was the perfect time to put players in their best positions against weak opposition.

It's still not too late to make the tough and correct call, please!

I have known Watto for a long time and know how he ticks.

He is a good guy who just wants to be the best he can . . . he wants the responsibility, but deep down I reckon if the selectors said, "Mate, we want you in the team for a long time and want you to bat at five", he would say "Cool" or "Phew!"

He would do anything that Ricky wants - that's the truth.

But for the sake of his future, now is the time to make the tough call - move him to No. 5.

Mike Hussey has to open.

Remember Hussey was an opener for most of his career and is how he got selected in the first place.

We want Hussey at his best and opening could be just the move to bring out his best form again. It's the right thing by the team. Watto is a genuine all-rounder and is best suited at No. 5.

My top six would read: Hussey, Simon Katich, Ponting, Michael Clarke, Watson and Marcus North.

Then, if Hussey does not find form, there are openers in Shield cricket ready to step in.

Phil Hughes should be first-choice opener when he is in form. But first he must get over demons against the short ball and show he is hungry to get the opening spot back.

Chris Rogers has again piled on the runs, and if Hughes does not rediscover his form, Rogers is ready to go.

Where to now for the West Indies? I'm not sure they know, which is such a shame.

They are a very proud bunch, the West Indians, and will feel embarrassed at their performance in Brisbane.

They will come back, but they cannot sustain pressure for long periods of time with bat or ball.

Young opener Adrian Barath was a surprise and it was great to see him put up a fight.

Everyone knows Chris Gayle and Shiv Chanderpaul are the keys with the bat. But for those guys to use both video challenges when they must have known they were plum was to put themselves above the rest.

Speaking of the referral system, I think it worked and the more everyone gets used to it, the quicker it will be.

Later this week Les Burdett will roll out a typical belter in the city of churches.

Adelaide is a great venue to play and let's hope the cricket resembles a Test match, not a walk in the park.

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Test cricket returns to CCI

The Cricket Club of India is to India what Lord’s is to England, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground to Australia.

Steeped in history and dripping cricket, the Brabourne stadium at the CCI is primed to welcome back Test cricket after a 36-year-old hiatus.

The construction of the Wankhede stadium, not far from the CCI premises, meant Test cricket moved to a venue with a greater seating capacity. Brabourne made its debut as a Test centre when John Goddard’s West Indies came calling in 1948-49. The last Test here was in 1972-73, India holding Tony Lewis’ England to a draw a match that saw Gundappa Viswanath slam 113 and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar pick up his 200th Test to clinch the series 2-1.

“I never thought that would be the last Test at such a beautiful ground,” said Ajit Wadekar, India’s captain during that series. “It is sad that this ground is going without cricket, it is unthinkable.”

The final Test against Sri Lanka, beginning on Wednesday, is being held at the Brabourne only because the Wankhede stadium is undergoing renovation ahead of the 2011 World Cup.

“What Lord’s is to England, Brabourne is to India,” added the 68-year-old Wadekar. “It is the ultimate dream for any cricketer to play at Lord’s; by the same token, every Indian cricketer would like to play at the CCI. It has a lovely atmosphere and that makes you feel different. You also play in front of a knowledgeable crowd.”

Eleven out of the 17 Tests at the Brabourne have ended in a stalemate, India winning four and losing two of the other six. The most famous of those draws, of course, was in that ’72-73 game. “It was a crucial match for us, basically to win the series,” Wadekar recalled. “That is the reason we went out with all intent. The uniqueness of the stadium is that the dressing room used to be shared by club members too. They advised me to field first but when I walked up to the wicket, I saw no moisture in the pitch -- it was a dry wicket.

“When I decided to bat, the club members questioned my wisdom. When we got 370 for three, nobody approached me! I also recollect Farokh Engineer and myself being engaged in a big partnership and England bowling a negative line. I shifted the off-stump as Tony Greig ran in to bowl. Greig told me, “Don’t do that to me, Mr Wadekar,” he said. “So I told him to stop bowling negative. ‘I will hit you with a bouncer’,” Greig retorted. “I said go ahead, you are slower than Prasanna!”

‘Perfect venue’

Wadekar had his wish list ready for this Test. “Sachin getting a hundred at Brabourne would be special. The way India are playing, this could be match where they will be crowned number one,” remarked Wadekar, adding that it would be the perfect venue for India to reach the number one Test ranking for the first time.

“We have a balanced side, a tremendous batting line-up and a balanced attack. The players seem full of confidence and the captain (Dhoni) has done extremely well.”

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Only 7 per cent Indians prefer Tests

An MCC survey has revealed only seven per cent of the Indian fans chose Test cricket as their preferred form of the game.

Cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar may feel that Test cricket has become more entertaining but the poll, commissioned by the Marylebone Cricket Club, covered 500 fans each from three countries -- India, South Africa and New Zealand.

Interestingly, 58 per cent of Indian respondents from India chose Twenty20 Internationals as their favourite format while for 31 per cent ODI was a preferred form.

Suprisingly, highly succesful Indian Premier League got just four per cent Indian voters' support, 'The Age' reported.

In the three countries overall, 13 per cent said they preferred Tests to the limited-overs contests.

The survey also shows that despite reports of public fatigue, ODI remains the most popular format with 36 per cent of the fans across the three countries choosing it.
The key findings of the poll were presented to the International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee earlier this month in Dubai, where both groups reaffirmed their commitment to preserving all three forms.

In India, 58 per cent of respondents said the emergence of Twenty20 had reduced their interest in Test cricket, while 23 per cent of South Africans and 13 per cent of New Zealanders felt the same.

But almost two-thirds of Indians and three-quarters of South Africans said Twenty20 might spark their interest in the longer formats.

Armed with the findings, the MCC's World Cricket Committee implored administrators to give the longest form of the game the "loving care and attention" it deserves.
"It's not as if the game is falling apart, but it has been scooped by Twenty20 and I think we would be foolish if we didn't think it was universal," MCC's World Cricket Committee Chairman Tony Lewis was quoted as saying by the report.

"We just can't sit back and let that happen. Test matches need loving care and attention, and they need to be played when people can watch. Can people afford to support all the brands of cricket? That's a really big question, I think.
"Australia and England don't feel the pinch so much in Test-match cricket but other countries do."

The survey is expected to be presented to chief executives of the Test-playing nations at their next meeting.

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Ashish Nehra likely to get Test recall

MUMBAI: Unless the national selection committee intends to go out of its way and experiment, which again has not quite been their style of working so far, the Test squad to be named for the three-match series against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Tuesday is expected to be completely void of any surprises.

It doesn’t get easier for the captain of a troubled team and the selectors either when all major contenders for a Test berth ahead of a series are completely fit. That is exactly the case now with India where Zaheer Khan is back in good shape having played a Ranji Trophy match, Yuvraj Singh has shown some form and the speculation surrounding the fitness of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag has remained just that and nothing more.

The last squad that did duty in New Zealand of 16 members is normally pruned to 14 for the home series. Which means, reserve opener Murli Vijay and medium-pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, picked as a back-up for the Kiwi tour, are likely to be omitted. Tamil Nadu medium-pacer Laxmipathy Balaji, who made a comeback during the tour of New Zealand but didn’t play a single Test may make way for Ashish Nehra. The Delhi left-arm pacer, who has been impressive since making a comeback to the limited overs squad five months ago, will in all probability be making a return to Test cricket after five years. Nehra last played at Test match against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in 2004.

Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra will be the two full-time spinners with Sehwag and Yuvraj as part-time options while Zaheer will have the services of Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel when Dhoni looks for a three-pronged pace attack.

Probable Squad:

MS Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra.

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Sri Lanka look to break India jinx

MUMBAI: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara is determined to set the record straight when his team contests a three-Test series against India starting next week.

Sri Lanka, currently the number two Test side behind South Africa, have not won any of their 14 Test matches on six previous visits to India since 1982.

"It's a record we hope to rectify," Sangakkara said on Monday ahead of the seven-week tour that includes three Tests, two Twenty20 matches and five One-Day Internationals.

Sangakkara said the pressure would be on India to maintain their unbeaten record, and hoped Australia's One-day series win over Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side would help his inexperienced team.

"We know we have not won here and we need to try and change that," the Sri Lankan captain said. "We are here to relax, enjoy and not worry about history, and try and put as much pressure on the Indians as possible.

"It will be interesting to see how India react to the defeat against an under-strength Australian side. Some react positively while some don't".

Australia took a decisive 4-2 lead in the seven-match series on Sunday despite having at least nine One-day regulars on the injured list.

Sangakkara, former captain Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera and star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan are the only ones in the touring side to have played a Test in India before.

But Sangakkara said the lack of Test experience was not a handicap.

"Inexperience is sometimes a good thing as the Indian batsmen have not played our fast bowlers regularly in the longer form of the game which can work to our advantage," he said.

"Sometimes a fresh perspective, attitude and enthusiasm could be an added bonus".

The tourists play a three-day practice match against the Indian Board President's XI in Mumbai from Wednesday, before the first Test opens in Ahmedabad on November 16.

The remaining Tests will be played in Kanpur (November 24-28) and Mumbai (December 2-6).

Sri Lanka's Test squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene, Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis.

Schedule:

Nov 11-13: vs Board President's XI, Mumbai

Nov 16-20: First Test, Ahmedabad

Nov 24-28: Second Test, Kanpur

Dec 2-6: Third Test, Mumbai

Dec 9: T20 international, Nagpur

Dec 12: T20 international, Mohali

Dec 15: First One-dayer, Rajkot

Dec 18: Second One-dayer, Vishakapatnam

Dec 21: Third One-dayer, Cuttack

Dec 24: Fourth One-dayer, Kolkata

Dec 27: Fifth One-dayer, Delhi

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Former Test umpire Shepherd dies

Former Test umpire David Shepherd has died after a long battle with cancer, his former club Gloucestershire have confirmed.

Shepherd was a batsman for the county for 14 years but came to prominence as a leading umpire, standing in 92 Tests around the world.

He was perhaps most famous for his one-legged jigs when the score reached 111, 222 or 333, known as a 'Nelson'.

He retired in 2005 but was struck by cancer soon after and has died aged 68.
Gloucestershire chairman John Light paid tribute to Shepherd.

"As an umpire he has always been a familiar and much-loved face, not only here but at cricket grounds around the world," Light told Sky Sports News.

"He was friendly, outgoing and straightforward. He believed cricket was a simple game and he took a straightforward approach to it in his cricket and his umpiring.
"He always put a smile on your face."

Light added: "He was tremendously superstitious. When the score was 111, 222 or 333, David would be hopping about on one leg and everybody in the dressing room had to do the same. We all do it in the committee room. When we do it, we say 'Shep would have us dancing'. We do it, and we'll go on doing it."

A tearful Dickie Bird, who regularly stood opposite Shepherd in Tests and one-day internationals, said: "I'm very sad and shocked it's happened.

"He was a fine umpire. We umpired together all over the world. He was a character, a great man, and a tremendous bloke.

"I've lost a friend. A great friend."

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Afridi wants a break from Test cricket

Shahid Afridi has told Pakistani selectors not to consider him for Test matches until next year's cricket World Cup.

"There is a lot of international cricket being played these days and I think it is better if I focus on these two forms of the game in the period leading up to the World Cup," Afridi said.

Afridi, who last played a Test in July, 2006 in England, said the next two years were very important for Pakistan cricket with the T20 and 50-over World Cups lined up.

"I would love to see our team winning both competitions and I feel we have the potential to do this," the spin all- rounder told the 'Jung' newspaper.

Afridi said not playing Test matches would help him stay fresh for the T20 and ODI matches. He has played 285 ODIs compared to just 26 Tests in his career which began in 1997.

The national selectors have already omitted him from the Test squad announced for the upcoming tour of New Zealand and named him captain of the T20 side until the next T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

He also dismissed reports of differences with captain Younus Khan.

"Both of us go a long way and we respect each other. I have always supported him as player and captain and I will continue to do that in future as well," he said.

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McCullum supports Test tournament

New Zealand's Brendon McCullum is in favour of the proposed annual Test cricket championship.

The MCC World Cricket Council recently put together a proposal where the top eight Test nations would play in series at the same time in November with the top four going onto semi-finals and finals the following September.

The MCC is due to present its case to the International Cricket Council in November.
McCullum believes something needs to be done to ensure Test cricket is not overtaken by the more lucrative Twenty20 competitions.

"It would be good to see some increased status around the Test matches otherwise it could be in danger," he told Radio Sport.

"All the players love playing Test cricket but unless it's protected and maybe its profile is enhanced then it could be in trouble."

The wicketkeeper-batsman also believes with the money available in the Indian Premier League and the increased profile of other Twenty20 competitions around the world that there could be more players who follow a similar course to that of England's Andrew Flintoff.

The all-rounder turned down a central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board to pursue other short-term contracts following his decision to retire from Test cricket.

"Just the way the game is evolving and the way that the private investors are trying to take some sort of ownership of the game as well, I can see it heading towards that kind of thing," McCullum said.

"I guess it's exciting opportunities for the players but dangerous times for the administrators. But hopefully all will work out for the best and cricket will be at the forefront of people's minds."

He added: "I'm very proud of playing for New Zealand. I'm very proud of what I have achieved so far and hopefully what I can achieve in the future.

"But it's the reality of how the world moves. You would be a fool if you were oblivious to it."

New Zealand are currently preparing for three one-day internationals and two Twenty20s against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month.

The Black Caps will then host the same opponents in a three-Test series in New Zealand.

The series was originally scheduled to be played in Pakistan earlier this year but was rearranged following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in March.

New Zealand will also host Bangladesh in February next year before a series against Australia in February and March that includes two Twenty20s, five one-dayers and two Tests.

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