Stuart Broad has lent his support to the World Test Championship, calling the competition a promising concept. However, the England pacer was less impressed with the way the points are allocated in the current format, claiming he can’t understand how a five-match Ashes series and a two-Test India-Bangladesh series are on the same pedestal.
Stuart Broad: World Test Championship Is Really A Good Concept But The Point System Isn’t Right
The inaugural edition of the World Test Championship dished out 120 points per series, irrespective of the number of matches played by respective teams. Points for each win depended on the number of Tests in the series, and many experts in the cricket fraternity have criticized the current system for being too rigid.
Stuart Broad became the latest cricketer to throw up the same question as he spoke to the Press Association about his reservations for the World Test Championship points system.
“The World Test Championship is a really good concept, I just don’t think it’s quite right yet. It’s a first-time effort. I can’t quite work out how a five-match Ashes series can be worth the same as India playing Bangladesh for two Tests,” Broad admitted.
The decision attracted criticism from several quarters, and Stuart Broad believes that although the World Test Championship has added context to Test matches, the format needs further improvement.
“There’s something in the idea and it has given great context to the game but there needs to be work done on how it all comes together, I think,” Broad added.
England played the most Tests in the World Test Championship, with no team matching their tally of 21. India was second with 17 matches, while bottom-placed Bangladesh played just seven Tests. England won 11 Tests losing 7 while 3 were drawn. India won 12 Tests, lost 4, and drew 1. New Zealand who qualified for WTC Final won 7 Tests and lost 4. Australia won 8, lost 4, and drew 2.
But England finished fourth in the standings, and Stuart Broad believes the English calendar works to their disadvantage in the competition.
“We had an opportunity, but the amount of cricket we play as an England side in the current system makes it very difficult to get into the final,” Stuart Broad concluded.
After winning the four-Test series against England at home by a 3-1 margin, India booked their place in the ICC World Test Championship final, where they will play against New Zealand.
Stuart Broad, who has 517 wickets to his name in the longest format, is likely to be part of the two-Test series against New Zealand, beginning on June 2. With England scheduled to host New Zealand in the first Test of the summer from June 2 at Lord’s, Stuart Broad hoped for both him and James Anderson to take the field.
Among fast bowlers, James Anderson is the leading wicket-taker of all-time at Test cricket level, and also holds the record for the most wickets taken by an England player in One-Day International (ODI) cricket. He is the only fast bowler to have 600 or more Test wickets to his name and is the fourth-highest wicket-taker overall. He has taken 614 scalps in 160 Tests.