Former Indian cricket great, turned commentator, Ravi Shastri has called for a two-tier composition in Test Match cricket, with the idea of implementing a relegation and promotion system.
The idea has come about following the Boxing Day Test Match, which is being labelled as one of the best matches in Test history. Drawing 373,691 spectators across five days, the attendance was the second-highest of all-time, only second to the record 350,534, also at the MCG, during a Donald Bradman-dominated Ashes match in 1936, which was played over six days.
The breathtaking nature of the game ultimately reinforced the former Indian coach's view that in order for Test cricket to survive, the biggest teams needed to be playing each other more often.
โTo break crowd records that have stood for nearly a century... is testimony to the fact that when the best teams play, the toughest and best format of the game is still alive and thriving,โ he said inย The Australian.
โThis [Boxing Day Test] match further emphasises why we need a two-tier system with the top 6-8 teams and then include promotion and demotion. You will not get these kinds of crowds if you don't have two proper teams playing.โ
It is not the first time that a push for change was on the agenda for the ICC. A proposal for a tournament similar to the premier league, featuring the top seven sides was up in the air in 2016.
Following backlash from the ever-so powerful Indian cricketing board, the idea was ultimately squashed. Whilst India do frequently play matches against fellow high-tier teams such as Australia and England, the BCCI said at the time of the proposal, the cost for smaller cricketing nations to participate in the league, was much too high.
Along with his view of the relegation and promotion system to further increase viewership in Test matches, Shastri reinforced the need to keep the five day format in Test cricket, despite a slight push for a reduction to four days.
โThe theatre in the end on (day five) Monday was further proof of why we need five days for a classic Test match,โ he said.
โHowever, if you don't create a two-tier system, you'll continue to have unmatched teams up against each other and then it's very unlikely they'll be able to take a game into the fifth day."
Australia currently lead 2-1 as the cricketing powerhouses face-off in a final match this coming Friday at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
