The Coronavirus pandemic has forced cricketing bodies to postpone or cancel multiple bilateral series and tournaments. The deadly virus has impacted the World Test Championship (WTC) as well. The reputed Test championship kicked-off after the 2019 World Cup.
Till now, there have been 56 Tests played between all the nine countries. India with 360 points are the leader in the points table, while Australia with 296 are at the second place, followed by New Zealand with 180 points.
Meanwhile, the big three boards of international cricket – Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) have written a letter to the ICC urging them to scrap the WTC.
The ECB on behalf of all three boards has also requested the ICC to make changes in its Future Tours Programme (FTP).
“This is an ongoing discussion right now. There’s absolutely no leadership coming out of the ICC whatsoever,” a leading administrator told TOI.
This proposal took place during the ICC’s meeting with member boards in late March.
Also, the Test championship cycle, and the ODI league followed by, could possibly trouble the boards’ bilateral preparations.
“What the ICC is trying to do is propose and schedule more official tournaments, which will do nothing but eat into the bilateral windows of its own member boards. No member board that is potentially sitting on a healthy media rights deal will agree to this,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, the ICC is trying to explore all possible options to make sure the Test championship continues amid Coronavirus scare. However, no official decision has been taken in this regard yet.
