Many cricketing greats have so far expressed their views on the proposed two-tier system in Test cricket. And now Sunil Gavaskar believes Sri Lanka’s opposition to the ‘two-tier’ Test system is just because of their fear of relegation to the lower division.
Sri Lanka has been to some extent a mere shadow of their glorious past since the retirement of senior players like Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Mahela Jayawardene. Angelo Mathews has been leading the inexperienced squad, and the results have been mediocre.
Sri Lanka have fallen down to No.7 in the Test rankings, and have just two wins in their past 10 Tests. In their recent England tour, they even lost the three-match Test series 2-0. The Lankans are scheduled to host Australia later this month for three Tests, five ODIs, and two T20Is.
Gavaskar, celebrating his 66th birthday today, in his column for times of India, wrote, “The Sri Lankans after the retirement of their star players over the past few years have struggled in their rebuilding phase. The younger players have found it a bit hard to get near the lofty standards set by Muralitharan, Vaas, Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara and so the results have been disappointing to the fans of Lankan cricket who were used to the brilliant cricket that the above-mentioned stars played.”
“It is, therefore, no surprise that the Sri Lankan Board is not in favour of the proposal to have a two-tier system of Test match cricket with promotion and relegation. The way the current team is shaping up, the Lankans are rightly concerned that their team could end up in the lower division which can have an adverse impact on their revenues.”
Earlier Sri Lanka Cricket outlined their strong opposition to the proposed two-tier Test system, claiming that they “can’t see any benefit for Sri Lankan cricket, the game, or the players”. SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala also voiced concerns over the financial ramifications of a potential tiered system, and believed the current path towards full membership and Test status for Associate sides was adequate.
The proposal to divide Test cricket into 2 tires, with seven nations in tier one, and five, including two new Test nations, in the second tier – was mooted at the ICC’s annual conference, in Edinburgh. BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said Bangladesh was the only country to oppose the proposed system, but SLC officials later revealed Sri Lanka was one of two boards in opposition.
In any case, Sumathipala spoke strongly against a move from the status quo, in which ten nations have full membership and Test status. Sri Lanka is currently seventh in the Test rankings with 85 points, ahead of West Indies, in 8th position with 65.
“Sri Lanka Cricket has decided not to support two-tier Test cricket as we have decided it’s detrimental to SLC and for its future,” Sumathipala said. “We feel that to make it a top seven – you are virtually relegating the bottom three to a different level.”