Test Championship Will Not Denigrate or Undermine The Ashes – James Sutherland
Oct 14, 2017 at 12:34 PM
With the game set for a major overhaul following the ICC’s approval of Test championship and ODI league, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has dismissed suggestions that it will affect the iconic Ashes.
The governing body of the game, on Friday (October 13), agreed in-principle to stage the Test championship which will take place after the 2019 World Cup. The tournament will see the top nine teams playing six series – three at home and three away, and the top two teams by April 2021 will lock horns in the championship final in England in June of that year.
Meanwhile, the teams will have to play at least a couple of Tests in a series while it can also get extended to as much, as five to cater with the iconic series like the Ashes.
“I can’t think of any way this denigrates or undermines the Ashes,” Sutherland told reporters after returning from the ICC meetings in Auckland this week. “It’s all positive.”
“The Ashes will continue to be the biggest Test event that we play, but these matches will have even greater meaning than they do currently if that’s possible,” he added.
Sutherland further said that winning the championship will be regarded very highly before stating that the details of the championship like the prize money is yet to get finalised.
“It will be highly anticipated as an event, but the prestige of winning that championship will be very significant,” he said.
“That detail is yet to be worked through, but absolutely there will be significant rewards associated with being a champion team and I think that’s only appropriate. There are already significant rewards for teams to win ICC events and it’s only appropriate that these being an extension of those ICC events, that there is similar sorts of prize money available,” he added.
The CA chief went on to say that every country would be keen to host the final of the championship that get played at the end of the two-year cycle.
“Bar none, every (ICC member team) likes the idea of hosting a Test championship (final) but whether that works logistically or not is another matter,” he said.
Sutherland concluded the championship would help the game to attract the dwindling crowd and is hopeful that it will generate a good support even for the neutral teams.
“Even if it’s – let’s say Australia and South Africa or India are playing – I don’t think there would be any question about it being an absolute sell-out,” he said.
“You can write a script that would be pretty powerful to … imagine you’ll have a Test Championship playoff match in 2021 at Lord’s,” he concluded.