Mark Butcher has labelled plans to include one-off Test matches in the next edition of the World Test Championship as 'utter nonsense'.
The ICC are reportedly considering an expansion of the World Test Championship for its next cycle to include all 12 Test-playing sides, adding Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan to the current roster. The board are also reportedly exploring the possibility of allowing one-off Test matches to count towards WTC points to make the competition more financially accessible to smaller teams.
“I've never been a fan of the World Test Championship,” said Butcher, speaking on Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast. "This doesn't make it any better.
“I’m actually all in for one-off Test matches, but as long as the entire WTC is made up of one-off Test matches.... My problem with the WTC has always been that you can play a five-Test series, or a three-Test series, or a two-Test series, and they all count to the same league table, which is patently nonsense.
“In my world of the World Test Championship, you have 12 teams and they all fly around and they play each other in one-off Test matches and that goes towards the World Test Championship. And you still have your five-Test series, they become the sole issue for the home boards to deal with the tours.”
One-off Tests in World Test Championship series 'utter nonsense'
The planned changes to the WTC format would ensure all 12 teams play at least 12 games, against at least eight of the teams in the competition over the course of two years, culminating in the final between the top two finishers after the league stage. It would be the biggest shakeup to the competition since the changes to the points system after the inaugural edition, which saw 12 points awarded for a win regardless of the number of matches in a series. In the first edition in 2019, the same number of points were available regardless of the number of matches in a series to make sure teams that played fewer Tests were not disadvantaged.
“A five-Test series shouldn't count at all unless everyone is playing five-Test match series,” said Butcher. “The easy way round it would be that the home board nominates three Test matches out of the five that count towards the World Test Championship and the other two are just part of a series between the two teams.
“To add three teams to it, which I'm all for – spread the game and all the rest of it, and have one-Test match series count, albeit with a different points scoring system, in the same way as a five-Test match series is just utter nonsense. It was nonsense before and it's even more nonsense if it becomes part of the Championship.”
'Everybody needs to have the same set of rules'
The format of the World Test Championship has drawn significant criticism from prominent voices within the game since its first edition in 2019. Michael Atherton labelled the competition 'flawed' ahead of last year's final, and Ben Stokes labelled the format 'utterly confusing' in 2024.
“For something to count towards a trophy at the end of it, it needs to be the same,” said Butcher. “Everybody needs to have the same set of rules, everybody plays against everybody and you work out who’s the best from that.
“My issue with WTC has always been the same. It was meant to give context to Test match series and therefore look after the game. I’ve always thought that was nonsense, that actually it would do the complete opposite."
“These proposals only highlight the belief that, actually, Test match cricket didn’t need context," he added. "What it needed was teams who were able to put their best teams on the park, which meant that countries and boards were able to earn a decent amount of money to plug back into their game.”
“It didn’t need a trophy at the end of it to do that.”
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