Former ENG player blasts ICC, claims WTC has made it 'worse' for Test cricket

There has been quite an uproar in the cricketing fraternity over South Africa naming a depleted squad for the New Zealand Test tour. Most of their red-ball regulars, who were recently part of the two-match series against India at home, have been contracted to be part of the second season of the SA20 league, leaving Cricket South Africa to name as many as seven uncapped player, including a captain who is set to make his debut, in the 14-man squad for the two-Test contest. India's Virat Kohli interacts with retiring Dean Elgar after gifting a signed jersey on behalf of Team India after winning the 2nd Test against South Africa by 7 wickets (ICC - x)

The shocking announcement left veterans and experts of the game worried about the future of Test cricket as they all voiced their suggestions to keep the traditional format alive and more appealing to budding cricketers. Former Australia captain Steve Waugh was among the many who heavily criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC) and top cricket boards, which includes the BCCI, after CSA's act and made a social media post where he called the squad announcement a “defining moment in the death of Test cricket”.

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Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, former England cricketer Mark Butcher, called out the apex body as well, as he reckoned that the poorly-structured format of the World Test Championship, now into its third cycle, made matters worse for Test cricket.

“One of the things that’s made this even more inevitable is something that they’ve done to try to salvage Test match cricket, which is the World Test Championship,” he said. “The point is that your bilateral series have to capture the imagination of the fans and the players of the two countries that are playing in it, and then the wider cricket watching public. And the only way they are that is if they are competitive. And that’s how it always was.

“Test match series were and Test matches in and of themselves, single games, were important events. The idea that you widen the whole thing out to sort of span three years and blah blah blah, some series are worth this, some series are worth that, some teams can’t be asked this week – it makes it even more nebulous. The only effort that’s been made to kind of try and keep it relevant, I think, has made it worse.”

Butcher feels that instead of ICC having formed the WTC tournament, they could have given their attention to more significant issues, suggesting a standard universal pay structure for players making Test match appearances and working with all boards to hold on to some of the best players in the format for a longer duration.

He said: “I don’t know, in all of the wrong places the effort has been made. And the places where it might actually have made a difference, i.e., levelling up revenues for TV rights, allowing countries to be able to keep hold of their best players, allowing them to be able to pay a universal standard of money for Test match appearances and whatever and then allow the richer boards to pay their players whatever they want to on top of that – I have no issue with any of that stuff. But this is just a surrender, if you ask me. It’s been a slow moving car crash up to now and now it’s kind of like, bang – impact has been made.”

The WTC, which started in 2019, runs on a three-year cycle with nine teams as participants. New Zealand won in the inaugural edition while Australia are currently the defending champions. India ended as runners-up in both the editions.

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