Comments on: Does a Test championship need a final?

By: eagleash

eagleash — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:42:27 +0000

Presumably a Test “Series” will have to become standardised.
The same No. of games per series? If so what is the proposed series length? Or what should it be? If England play 5 tests against the Aussies (& the Ashes should consist of nothing less), will all Series have to be 5 tests? How will this be fitted in to an already overcrowded calendar. & would a 5 match series against Bangladesh (apologies) be commercially viable?

By: Ged

Ged — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:24:26 +0000

Oh no!

Tufnell-Parker has spelled Elderbrook wrong.

Take cover everyone – and cover your ears. Wherever you might be, the bestial roar could be deafening……

By: The Mufti of Tufnell Park

The Mufti of Tufnell Park — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:18:16 +0000

err – wasn’t that the point? that a system like this will take the context away from a lot of games, loading it all on to a few?

It’s a crap idea. But we’re used to that.

More jokes please KC. And more Laurence Elderbrooke.

By: Bert

Bert — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:18:06 +0000

“…what does it prove?”

Why does it have to prove anything? All sport is artificial, designed primarily for the enjoyment of the players and/or the spectators. It’s not an exam. Tendulkar’s magnificent skills are not transferable to carpentry or management accounting. And besides, if playing under pressure is a sporting talent (and it is), how come it becomes subordinated to skill-under-less-pressure (a league) in finding out who is best?

This website campaigns for context to be part of the sporting equation. A century in a championship final is surely worth more than a century in an already-won league.

By: Oliver's Army

Oliver's Army — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:11:49 +0000

Leagues being decided by play-offs and finals is one of the curses of sport. Rugby Union Premiership, Football Play-Offs, Aussie Rules etc etc.

The beauty of a league is that it rewards consistency and performance in many conditions and against many teams. This will be more so in a Test Championship as to win a side will have to play on all manner of grounds in different conditions and against all teams.

If (say) India are the top team after the end of the League and then slip up in the final against a team full of seamers on a damp pitch at Lords, what does it prove ?

And if a football team playing for penalties is boring – the idea of a Test Match Championship being won on a specially prepared flat pitch so that a draw is inevitable . . .

A Test Championship is a great idea – but let the winners be the winners rather than look for a large cheque at the end of it.

By: Martletman

Martletman — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:41:36 +0000

Ged.
So the team finishing highest can play for a draw ? That’ll bring the crowds in.

By: Ged

Ged — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:19:43 +0000

If the side that finished higher in the league is deemed to have won if the result of a semi-final and/or final is a draw, then it would always matter where you finished in the league.

Sorry to make a sensible point without a smartar$e angle. It’s late.

By: Pavan

Pavan — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:47:30 +0000

We Indians do love the icing.

By: eagleash

eagleash — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:34:59 +0000

Do we really need a Test Championship, particularly with the ghastly American invention of a play-off?
To me each series, each game, in fact, is a sporting event in it’s own right to be enjoyed accordingly & we already have the ICC rankings to determine who is the top Test Nation of the moment.
If it does come about I hope that each Test/series is not lost to the bigger picture & that teams are not looking at run-rates etc during a series to manipulate their points total.
In short it smacks of partisanship, commercialism & dumbing-down.

By: The Dawg

The Dawg — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:56:47 +0000

If there was free pie the attendance would have been enormous as Yorkshire folk are unlikely to turn down free pie. And if they knew there was a chance of winning gravy interest would have been phenomenal.

Now apply the cake analogy, I can’t see Yorkshire folk going crazy for cake, therefore pies are the best analogy for the future of test cricket.

In the subcontinent this may not be true. They like sweet things and I am not convinced they have any great fondness for pies. So, if first plays fourth in the semi final, the team in first place should get their choice of home analogy. This should …..I give up………….sorry.