The structure of international cricket has evolved only
recently from a traditional
ad hoc
basis. It had long been traditional for the countries, without any
interference from a body such as the
International Cricket Council (ICC), to organize for themselves
the various
cricket matches. Recently, however, the ICC has committed the
Test cricket playing nations to play each other in a programme
of matches over a period of 10 years. This was set up to encourage
some of the better established countries to play the lesser nations
more frequently.
The structure will no doubt evolve further as a result of the first
Twenty20
international match between
New Zealand and
Australia on
February
17, 2005 and
the popularity of
Twenty20
cricket in general.
General structure
Most Test matches and
One-Day - series take place in the form of "tours." In a tour, one nation
travels to another and plays warm-up matches,
first-class matches against domestic teams such as county or state teams, a
series of Test matches against the host nation, and either a series of one-day
matches against the host nation or a tournament involving the host nation and
another touring nation. The "triangular tournament" format is often used when
one tour is about to conclude and the other has just begun. In the tournament,
the three teams play each other either two or three times. The two teams with
the most points (usually two points for a win, one point for a no-result or tie,
and no points for a loss) qualify for the one-game final. The bonus point system
is also often used in a triangular tournament - if a team's
run rate is
a fixed percentage higher than the opponent's (usually 33%), an extra bonus
point is awarded to the winner. Examples of tournaments where the bonus point
system is used include the
VB Series
and the
NatWest Series.
The Test series can last from two matches to six matches. Six-match series
were common around 1980,
and the Ashes
Test series in England was a six-match series from
1981 to
1997 (but five matches in Australia). The last six-match series was held in
1997-98 between the
West Indies and
England. The most important series last five matches, while the less
important ones last two to four matches. The length of the series is based on
the home country's attitude towards the modern form of cricket, one-day
internationals; traditional nations such as England and Australia usually
organize five-match series, while one-day crazy nations such as
India and Pakistan favour three-match series. At most, a perpetual trophy is
awarded to the winning team, or to the winner of the previous series in the case
of a drawn series. The Ashes (for England versus Australia) is the most famous
perpetual trophy. Other perpetual trophies include:
-
Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia-West Indies)
-
Trans-Tasman Trophy (Australia-New Zealand)
-
Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia-India)
- Wisden Trophy (England-West Indies)
The One-day series lasts from three to seven matches. Usually, the shorter
one-day series are played at the same time as longer Test series - although the
one-day matches and Test matches are usually played in groups. These days, it is
rare that a Test series is interrupted by one-day internationals. In addition to
tours, nations may organize one-day matches at neutral venues. The
Sahara Cup was a one-day series played annually between India and
Pakistan in Toronto, until the Indian government ordered the suspension of
all cricketing ties with Pakistan, which were revived in
2004. Similarly, a
semiannual Triangular Tournament was organized at
Sharjah, in
the
United Arab Emirates. The tournament almost always involved the traditional
rivals India and Pakistan. However, the tournament has lost its luster due to
the fact that the overwhelming number of cricket matches has spoiled the pitch.
In contrast to the one-dayers, Tests are almost never held in neutral venues. A
triangular Test tournament was held in England in
1912, requiring
South Africa to play Australia in
Manchester,
London and
Nottingham. One notable recent exception occurred when Pakistan played some
Test matches in Sharjah; many other nations had decided to boycott Pakistani
grounds due to violence, including bombings, that had occurred during a tour by
the New Zealand cricket team.
Security implications have also affected tours to
Sri Lanka,
and tours to
Zimbabwe are currently being questioned due to the political situation in
that country. In the 2003 World Cup tournament, New Zealand forfeited its game
scheduled in Kenya.
In addition to the one-day series and tournaments organized by the nations
themselves, the ICC organizes two tournaments. The
World Cup is held every four years; it involves all the Test-playing
nations,
Kenya, and also a number of qualifying nations. The
ICC Champions Trophy, previously known as the ICC Knockout Cup, is held
every two years in between World Cups. In the Champions Trophy, a single loss is
likely to eliminate a team from the tournament.
ICC Ten Year Plan
This is a plan designed to make all countries play each other for Test
cricket over a period of ten years, was approved in February
2001 by the ICC
member countries. Starting from 2002 and running until 2011, it ensures that
each Test country will play the other nine home and away over a period of ten
years, in addition to any matches the individual cricket boards organise on
their own. Thus, India and Pakistan played 12 ODIs and 6 Tests against each
other in their respective countries (not including neutral ground ODI
tournaments such as the
Asia Cup)
from 2004 to April
2005, and played a
further series of 3 Tests and 5 ODIs in the winter of
2006. However,
because of the rigorous schedule of the Ten Year Plan, there is hardly any time
left over to schedule other series, and there have been voices criticising the
amount of international cricket that is played
[1], with the risk of injury and player burnout as reasons for
why this amount should be reduced. The ICC have defended their policy, citing
the number of international players in English county cricket as a sign that
there is not too much cricket for the players.
[2]
Test Championship
The ICC instituted the Test Championship table to permit fans to compare all
the Test teams. The Table is a running one, that is, whoever is on top at a
certain time will formally hold the Test trophy. (The Table is not like a league
standings table, where the top team at the end of a certain period of time
becomes Champion.)
ODI Championship
The ODI (One-day International) championship was created for reasons similar
to the Test one, and it has a similar structure. The championship does not
replace the World Cup; the latter still carries much more significance to most
cricket fans.
References
-
↑ "Too
much cricket hurting the game: Kapil Dev" from rediff.com,
20 March 2002 (accessed
22
September 2005)
-
↑ "Mani
dismisses suggestions there is too much cricket from Daily Times Pakistan,
9 July 2004 (accessed
22
September 2005)
-
HindustanTimes.com - ICC Ten Year Plan
