Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:00
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David Richardson, the ICC CEO, has said the inability to find a suitable format led to the World Test Championship failing to get off the ground.
“I think we were always struggling to find a format for WTC that could be completed within a relatively short space of time and that would not lead to more damage than good,” Richardson said. “As we know draws are such an important part of Tests and you’ve seen numerous formats tried in various countries where you have a final for your domestic competitions and those finals always tend to be damp squibs really because one team is playing for a draw on first-innings lead.”
Richardson said the lack of a Test Championship was not a setback for the format as the ICC’s rankings were becoming significant. “If you look at it the way the board has looked at it now, we have the ranking system which is becoming more and more prominent, more and more people taking note of it, more teams are trying to end the year as No. 1 and earn the financial prize money that goes with that. There’s prestige involved in being No. 1 and holding the mace.”
