Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Juggy777]

~snip~

I would say that even 18-20 sounds a bit on the higher side.

On average its 9-10 tests per year, looks manageable imo

Home-Away series for every team.

Looks like Pakistan got excellent deal this time. They're playing every SENA countries at home condition and then away series against Bangladesh-Srilanka at sub-continent. Good chance to get on top of the list.

NZ got couple of tough opponent when playing away.

What? Not a single match between PAK and IND!

If only they could have scheduled one between the two teams, We haven't seen these two teams playing for a long time now. Hopefully they will play in the upcoming T20 WC.

@pakhitheboss in case you have forgotten India don’t play Pakistan, due to terror related issues which led the Indian Government banning all sport ties between the two. Also it’ll be interesting to see India vs Pakistan in the t20 World Cup, but I fear security reason may lead to cancellation of this match, what do you’ll think?.

[Sithara007]

@pakhitheboss in case you have forgotten India don’t play Pakistan, due to terror related issues which led the Indian Government banning all sport ties between the two. Also it’ll be interesting to see India vs Pakistan in the t20 World Cup, but I fear security reason may lead to cancellation of this match, what do you’ll think?.

Even if India and Pakistan face each other in the T20 World Cup, the match will be taking place in neutral territory and the Indian government will be having no objections. The ban covers only bilateral series. The Indian government hasn't given permission for the Indian team to visit Pakistan for the bilateral series and similarly they are not allowing the Pakistanis to visit India. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has raised complaints on multiple occasions related to this, to the ICC. But the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon.

[Maidak]

@pakhitheboss in case you have forgotten India don’t play Pakistan, due to terror related issues which led the Indian Government banning all sport ties between the two. Also it’ll be interesting to see India vs Pakistan in the t20 World Cup, but I fear security reason may lead to cancellation of this match, what do you’ll think?.

Even if India and Pakistan face each other in the T20 World Cup, the match will be taking place in neutral territory and the Indian government will be having no objections. The ban covers only bilateral series. The Indian government hasn't given permission for the Indian team to visit Pakistan for the bilateral series and similarly they are not allowing the Pakistanis to visit India. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has raised complaints on multiple occasions related to this, to the ICC. But the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The conflict between India and Pakistan has been going on since the partition. And there is no possibility of resolving the conflict soon. They have met 6 times in the last 6 years and all the matches have been held in a third country. The two teams will also face a third country in the T20 World Cup.

[Vishnu.Reang]

The conflict between India and Pakistan has been going on since the partition. And there is no possibility of resolving the conflict soon. They have met 6 times in the last 6 years and all the matches have been held in a third country. The two teams will also face a third country in the T20 World Cup.

One thing that I don't understand is that why this issue is only limited to cricket. In other sports such as football and hockey, both the countries face each other quite regularly. IMO, there is no need to mix politics in to cricket, as it can be mutually detrimental to both the sides. I am in favor of BCCI resuming cricket ties with the PCB. But the prevailing sentiment in India is vehemently against any such resumption. And the current Indian government is also not much interested in it. I guess the attitude is more conciliatory in Pakistan.

[JSRAW]

~snip~

What? Not a single match between PAK and IND!

Oh well, nothing much to say. WC is coming and if they both manage to reach knock outs then we have some chance. Test series is not going to happen any time soon.

@Vishnu.Reang Revenue.... nothing else.

On average its 9-10 tests per year, looks manageable imo

In case all the countries have a separate squad for the test format, then this is OK. But in case of India, where players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma needs to take part in all the three formats (T20, ODI and test) on top of IPL, it may be pushing them to the limit. I would have been happy with 6-7 test matches per year. 10 per year is spending 50 days per year on test matches every year. Why that much time needs to be allotted to a format, which is not as popular as the shorter formats?

When PIG 3 play with each other then its all about printing money that's why they always play 4-5 test match series.

[bryant.coleman]

When PIG 3 play with each other then its all about printing money that's why they always play 4-5 test match series.

I don't have an issue when the Pig3 organize 5-match series. There is a sizable following for test cricket in these countries and the revenues are not that bad. But that is not the case when Sri Lanka plays against Bangladesh or West Indies plays against South Africa. The fan following will be very low, and the revenues will be negligible. This is why I favor splitting the test teams to two real divisions (not like the 9 team first tier and 3 team second tier that we have now). Each of the divisions should consist of 6 teams each.

[Iranus]

When PIG 3 play with each other then its all about printing money that's why they always play 4-5 test match series.

I don't have an issue when the Pig3 organize 5-match series. There is a sizable following for test cricket in these countries and the revenues are not that bad. But that is not the case when Sri Lanka plays against Bangladesh or West Indies plays against South Africa. The fan following will be very low, and the revenues will be negligible. This is why I favor splitting the test teams to two real divisions (not like the 9 team first tier and 3 team second tier that we have now). Each of the divisions should consist of 6 teams each.

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

[Sithara007]

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

Two divisions are needed, because the gap between the pig 3 sides and smaller nations such as Sri Lanka are increasing. I would rather prefer three divisions of test cricket. It will be as follows:

Division 1: India, Australia, New Zealand, England and Pakistan
Division 2: South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies
Division 3: Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal.

[fuguebtc]

When PIG 3 play with each other then its all about printing money that's why they always play 4-5 test match series.

I don't have an issue when the Pig3 organize 5-match series. There is a sizable following for test cricket in these countries and the revenues are not that bad. But that is not the case when Sri Lanka plays against Bangladesh or West Indies plays against South Africa. The fan following will be very low, and the revenues will be negligible. This is why I favor splitting the test teams to two real divisions (not like the 9 team first tier and 3 team second tier that we have now). Each of the divisions should consist of 6 teams each.

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

Yes, that would be a timely decision. Because, if there is a team match like Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, then there are no spectators in the match. No one enjoys these type of matches. Because we can easily predict the outcome of such matches. So it would be better to divide the teams into two or three. In the third part, new team will be taken, who have just qualified to play Tests.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Yes, that would be a timely decision. Because, if there is a team match like Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, then there are no spectators in the match. No one enjoys these type of matches. Because we can easily predict the outcome of such matches. So it would be better to divide the teams into two or three. In the third part, new team will be taken, who have just qualified to play Tests.

In general test cricket is losing spectators, because people don't have time to watch cricket for 5 days consecutively. Apart from organizing the test matches in to WTC, the ICC hasn't done anything to make test cricket more appealing to the younger fans (and I don't think that they will be able to do much, even if they want to). ICC clinging on to test cricket is like a computer user still dependent on the 1.44 MB floppy disk, when 64GB or 128 GB USB drives are available at the same price. They need to understand that test cricket has become obsolete.

[Iranus]

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

Two divisions are needed, because the gap between the pig 3 sides and smaller nations such as Sri Lanka are increasing. I would rather prefer three divisions of test cricket. It will be as follows:

Division 1: India, Australia, New Zealand, England and Pakistan
Division 2: South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies
Division 3: Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal.

I like your 3 divisions. But I think Pakistan should be given second division. The first division will include England, New Zealand, Australia, and India. There is no continuity in Pakistan's game. If they perform well in a match, then they lose badly in the next match. I don't think Pakistan is a first-tier team now.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I like your 3 divisions. But I think Pakistan should be given second division. The first division will include England, New Zealand, Australia, and India. There is no continuity in Pakistan's game. If they perform well in a match, then they lose badly in the next match. I don't think Pakistan is a first-tier team now.

Perhaps the classification took the market size in to account. Pakistan is the largest market for cricket in Asia, after India. So their matches are guaranteed to have a consistent audience and viewership, irrespective of their form. It is not so for the smaller markets such as Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa. Having a larger player pool and population means that there is a chance that their performance will improve in the future. On the other hand, teams such as Sri Lanka are having a limited pool of players and therefore the chances that they will produce world class players on a consistent basis is low.

[JSRAW]

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

Two divisions are needed, because the gap between the pig 3 sides and smaller nations such as Sri Lanka are increasing. I would rather prefer three divisions of test cricket. It will be as follows:

Division 1: India, Australia, New Zealand, England and Pakistan
Division 2: South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies
Division 3: Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal.

Ind-Pak are not going to play so they might end up playing with only SENA countries in this system.

Guess we discussed this topic couple of times here, anyway IMO it would be better if they could divide teams into 2 group according to their ranking. As of now we have 12 tests playing nations.

Group A  : Top 1-6 ranking team
Group B  : Bottom 7-12 ranking team

[pakhitheboss]

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

Two divisions are needed, because the gap between the pig 3 sides and smaller nations such as Sri Lanka are increasing. I would rather prefer three divisions of test cricket. It will be as follows:

Division 1: India, Australia, New Zealand, England and Pakistan
Division 2: South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies
Division 3: Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal.

Ind-Pak are not going to play so they might end up playing with only SENA countries in this system.

Guess we discussed this topic couple of times here, anyway IMO it would be better if they could divide teams into 2 group according to their ranking. As of now we have 12 tests playing nations.

Group A  : Top 1-6 ranking team
Group B  : Bottom 7-12 ranking team

Whenever there is an ICC tournament, I check first whether India and Pakistan are playing the league matches. Almost all the time they are not nowadays and this makes me unhappy. I am sure most of us are in the same boat, and I am also thinking whether BCCI has a part to play in all these.

The division is quite good considering that the top 6 ranking teams are in a separate group. The best out of the 6 will be part of the final and will be the winner too as the bottom ranking team will not have any chance against them. So eventually out of the top 6 team one will be the winner.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Two divisions are needed, because the gap between the pig 3 sides and smaller nations such as Sri Lanka are increasing. I would rather prefer three divisions of test cricket. It will be as follows:

Division 1: India, Australia, New Zealand, England and Pakistan
Division 2: South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies
Division 3: Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal.

Ind-Pak are not going to play so they might end up playing with only SENA countries in this system.

Guess we discussed this topic couple of times here, anyway IMO it would be better if they could divide teams into 2 group according to their ranking. As of now we have 12 tests playing nations.

Group A  : Top 1-6 ranking team
Group B  : Bottom 7-12 ranking team[/quote]

For my part, I am OK with this system as well. But my question for you is whether you are OK with a total of 15 test matches in 2 year cycle (each team playing against the other teams 3 matches each)? That would mean 7-8 matches per year, instead of your preference of 9-10. Also, I would like to have a third division, consisting of teams ranked 13-18. Now I don't think that the ICC would like to spend their money to schedule the third division, for teams such as Scotland and Nepal. So it will remain in pipeline for a few years.

[JSRAW]

Ind-Pak are not going to play so they might end up playing with only SENA countries in this system.

Guess we discussed this topic couple of times here, anyway IMO it would be better if they could divide teams into 2 group according to their ranking. As of now we have 12 tests playing nations.

Group A  : Top 1-6 ranking team
Group B  : Bottom 7-12 ranking team

For my part, I am OK with this system as well. But my question for you is whether you are OK with a total of 15 test matches in 2 year cycle (each team playing against the other teams 3 matches each)? That would mean 7-8 matches per year, instead of your preference of 9-10. Also, I would like to have a third division, consisting of teams ranked 13-18. Now I don't think that the ICC would like to spend their money to schedule the third division, for teams such as Scotland and Nepal. So it will remain in pipeline for a few years.

If our major concern is WTC then 15 tests matches (3 match series * 5 series) in 2 year cycle sounds logical solution to me. You can't have system where one team playing 20 match and other team only playing 10, not fair imo.

9-10 Test matches are not my preference but BIG 3 eco system for the red ball cricket. This trio played around 18-21 test match in last wtc cycle.

Yeah they won't because its not good for business. 

[Swordsoffreedom]

Test playing teams should be divided into two groups. The first group will have first-tier teams like India, New Zealand, and England. And in the second group, will play a team like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. And no Test match will be played between any team in Group A or any team in Group B. If Bangladesh will play a test match against a team like India or Newzeland, there will be no competition.

Two divisions are needed, because the gap between the pig 3 sides and smaller nations such as Sri Lanka are increasing. I would rather prefer three divisions of test cricket. It will be as follows:

Division 1: India, Australia, New Zealand, England and Pakistan
Division 2: South Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies
Division 3: Zimbabwe, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal.

Ind-Pak are not going to play so they might end up playing with only SENA countries in this system.

Guess we discussed this topic couple of times here, anyway IMO it would be better if they could divide teams into 2 group according to their ranking. As of now we have 12 tests playing nations.

Group A  : Top 1-6 ranking team
Group B  : Bottom 7-12 ranking team

It is better to divide it into two groups. We don't have to watch unequal or one-sided series anymore. Many may say that small teams play against big teams to enhance their experience. I don't think so. Smaller teams lost by an innings in most matches against big teams. They are gaining experience but their performance is not improving. I am not interested in watching Test series of smaller countries with India, New Zealand England and Australia.

[Vishnu.Reang]

It is better to divide it into two groups. We don't have to watch unequal or one-sided series anymore. Many may say that small teams play against big teams to enhance their experience. I don't think so. Smaller teams lost by an innings in most matches against big teams. They are gaining experience but their performance is not improving. I am not interested in watching Test series of smaller countries with India, New Zealand England and Australia.

Once in a while teams from the first division should play against teams in the second division. So we can have series between teams such as Australia and West Indies, and between India and Sri Lanka. But the same should be applicable to teams from the second division. They should also be willing to play matches against smaller teams such as Scotland and Netherlands (i.e from the third division). Now how many of these matches need to be played in a 2 year cycle can be decided by the boards that are involved. I would limit it to just one series of two matches.

[JSRAW]

It is better to divide it into two groups. We don't have to watch unequal or one-sided series anymore. Many may say that small teams play against big teams to enhance their experience. I don't think so. Smaller teams lost by an innings in most matches against big teams. They are gaining experience but their performance is not improving. I am not interested in watching Test series of smaller countries with India, New Zealand England and Australia.

Once in a while teams from the first division should play against teams in the second division. So we can have series between teams such as Australia and West Indies, and between India and Sri Lanka. But the same should be applicable to teams from the second division. They should also be willing to play matches against smaller teams such as Scotland and Netherlands (i.e from the third division). Now how many of these matches need to be played in a 2 year cycle can be decided by the boards that are involved. I would limit it to just one series of two matches.

ICC can't force anyone. So everything comes down to bilateral series and voluntary commitment from the individual boards, they could organize test series with in their WTC schedule. One example is England visiting NZ last year or so to play 2 tests match series and NZ did the same last month before the WTC finals, both series had no relevance in WTC cycle.  

IMO Big 3 should support small teams such as Scotland-Netherlands-Afghanistan with 1 bilateral series once a while because BIG 3 brings revenue with them specially India. As of now India Play with SL and once a while with Bangladesh to keep them going. England did the same with Ireland and Australia also planning to play with Afghanistan.

[Iranus]

IMO Big 3 should support small teams such as Scotland-Netherlands-Afghanistan with 1 bilateral series once a while because BIG 3 brings revenue with them specially India. As of now India Play with SL and once a while with Bangladesh to keep them going. England did the same with Ireland and Australia also planning to play with Afghanistan.

Maybe the boards can make a lot of money from these matches. But as a general spectator no one enjoys these matches. The 5 day match ends in 3 or 4 days. In fact, these matches do not make any sense. Boards need to be aware, build more experienced, patient Test players.