Cricket: World Test Championship could be scrapped owing to limited interest

Beginning of the end!

The World Test Championship’s future remains in the dark, after the 2017 championship set to be held in England is set to be shelved by the end of the month.

The lukewarm response by sponsors and broadcasters towards the format has led to its possible demise. The International Cricket Council’s idea of a play-off between the top teams in world Test rankings is set to be laid to rest for the second and possibly the last time.

Although this news comes as a blessing for the now scrapped ICC Champions Trophy, a one-day tournament that had been staged seven times since 1998 but was said to have played his final part in Cricket history when India beat England in the final at Edgbaston in June 2013, is all set to come-back to the fore once the Test Championship is finally scrapped.

ICC and national governing bodies officials, like the England and Wales Cricket board have been working to enhance the standing and significance of Test cricket via the Test rankings. They are planning to achieve this by significantly increasing the financial incentives. South Africa, who had topped the rankings in April 2013, received a sum of $450,000 (£275,000), which was already increased from the year before, are set to be guaranteed a similar sum if not more for consolidating their position at the summit over the period of the next 12 months.

The World Test Championship was already deferred from its schedule to be held in the summer of 2013 after Indian broadcasters preferred to retain the Champions Trophy. The ICC then launched it in Abu Dhabi in October last year, where Dave Richardson, the chief executive of ICC referred grandly to the “epic nature” of “a journey that all the Test playing nations will embark upon over the next four years”.

The Test Championship was set to be contested between the top four teams of the ICC Test rankings as of December 2016. This had potentially put England in a false position, who were close to missing out on the competition that they were due to host after their disastrous Ashes tour. England currently find themselves at fourth in the table and a further slide would have seen them miss out on the tournament.

After an expected ICC meeting, scheduled to be held later this month, the confirmation of the demise of Test Championship and it’s successor are set to be announced. The meeting will also discuss the future of World Twenty 20, which currently hangs in the balance. The World Twenty 20 will start in Bangladesh in little over 2 months from now.