Test Cricket Shake-Up: Jay Shah, Cricket Australia, and ECB Discuss Two-Division Format https://www.cricketwinner.com Jay Shah, Cricket Australia, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are in discussions to overhaul Test cricket by creating two divisions, aiming to boost competition and increase the frequency of matches between the top nations. This proposal would restructure the format, allowing the Big Three (India, Australia, and England) to play each other more often. Mon, 06 Jan 2025 06:29:22 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html https://github.com/jpmonette/feed en Copyright © 2024 Cricket Winner. All Rights Reserved. <![CDATA[Test Cricket Shake-Up: Jay Shah, Cricket Australia, and ECB Discuss Two-Division Format]]> https://www.cricketwinner.com/cricket-news/test-cricket-shake-up-jay-shah-cricket-australia-and-ecb-discuss-two-division-format/ https://www.cricketwinner.com/cricket-news/test-cricket-shake-up-jay-shah-cricket-australia-and-ecb-discuss-two-division-format/ Mon, 06 Jan 2025 06:06:53 GMT

The leaders in a meeting are encouraged to contemplate groups like the ECB, BCCI, and Cricket Australia, are conversing about changing things in Test cricket. They're planning on splitting it into two leagues, with six teams in each. To make it more exciting, they desire to introduce a way for teams to climb up or fall down between these leagues.Why, it's to keep the games exciting and make sure that the top teams fight it out more frequently.

They're also thinking about setting aside specific times for Test matches so fans can follow the games without breaks and enjoy it more. This entire plan is about making Test cricket more exciting and overtly competitive.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) set up a $15 million fund, at the same time, to keep Test cricket alive, so the best players don't leave it for those games that make a lot of money. The money is there to make sure Test players are excellently paid more for each game and to help cover the costs of tours. They're doing this to keep the traditional methods of playing cricket exciting and going strong.

Cricket's leaders are really working hard to bring new energy to Test Cricket, so it's enjoyable to see and makes money. They're trying their best to keep the antiquated style of the game spectacular for the fans and the players too.

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ICC Men's Test Team Rankings

As of January 2025, the ICC Men's Test Team Rankings are:

RankTeamMatchesPointsRating
1Australia364531126
2India394248109
3South Africa242524105
4England464815105
5New Zealand33321697
6Sri Lanka25227191
7Pakistan24206086
8West Indies29218475
9Bangladesh29188465
10Ireland513126

Top 5 Test cricket series/events with the highest viewership worldwide

RankSeries/EventCountry/RegionViewership
1The Ashes (England vs Australia)Australia, England17.8 million viewers in the 2022 series 
2India vs Pakistan (ICC tournaments)India, Pakistan, Global1.1 billion viewers in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal 
3India vs Australia (Border-Gavaskar Trophy)India, Australia100 million+ for the 2020-21 series 
4The Ashes (England vs Australia)Global100+ million viewers for key Test matches 
5India vs England (Bilateral series)India, England80 million viewers for select matches 

Jay Shah, Cricket Australia, and the England and Wales Cricket Board are discussing revamping Test cricket with a new system that has two divisions. They want to change things so that the major teams India, Australia, and England get to face off more, while also attempting to help the other teams move up with a system that allows teams to get promoted or relegated.

By trying different and new options and making teams work hard to keep their place, they're hoping to make Test cricket much more interesting and clearly competitive from top to bottom. The important idea behind all of this is to get more people watching Test cricket bring in more sponsors by setting up big-name matches and, basically, make Test cricket better and more interesting than ever, especially since, today, the shorter T20 games are getting all the attention. They're trying to keep everyone involved and excited about what could be a major change for the better.

 

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