Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg has warned that continuing the current model of Test cricket could leave some boards facing bankruptcy.
Cricket Australia chief: Not everyone needs to aspire to play Test cricket
The CA administrator urged the ICC to adopt a slimmed down schedule to prioritise the quality of Test cricket and protect its future existence. The council recently introduced a working group to discuss how to safeguard the future of the format, and to examine the potential of shifting to a Two Tier system.
"Scarcity in Test cricket is our friend, not out foe," said Greenberg. "I don't think everyone in world cricket needs to aspire to play Test cricket, and that might be okay. We're literally trying to send countries bankrupt if we force them to try and play Test cricket."
Part of Greenberg's vision would give greater investment to series between the so-called big three – India, England and Australia. The recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between India and England was highlighted as an example of Test cricket's importance, with the series being labelled as one of the greatest ever contested between the two countries.
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"We need to make sure we invest in the right spaces to play Test cricket where it means something has jeopardy," said Greenberg. "That's why the Ashes will be as enormous and profitable as it is, because it means something."
Another recent Test series between New Zealand and Zimbabwe prompted renewed calls to examine a Two Tier Test system. New Zealand won the second Test by an innings and 359 runs after racking up 601-3 declared in their only innings.
A two-tier system has been floated as a solution to performance gaps in Test cricket for some time, but gained traction last month after the establishment of the ICC working group in the first annual general meeting under the leadership duo of chair, Jay Shah, and chief executive, Sanjog Gupta. The group includes Greenberg, as well as ECB chief executive Richard Gould, and is chaired by Gupta.
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