'Flawed' Test Championship reveals world cricket's underlying problems
Reigning champions Australia face South Africa in the World Test Championship final at Lord's starting Wednesday amid a chorus of criticism over the competition's format.
Wisden, cricket's 'bible', was scathing in its assessment, with editor Lawrence Booth writing in this year's edition that the WTC is a "shambles masquerading as a showpiece".
Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Atherton said "everyone knows the WTC in its present guise is flawed".
One fundamental problem is that political tensions mean India and Pakistan, two of cricket's leading nations, have not played a Test against each other since 2007.
The nine-nation WTC is further skewed because the teams are not being required to face each other or to play the same number of matches, unlike most sports leagues.
Countries are free to decide how many Tests they would like to play in the two-year qualifying cycle -- something Booth wants doubled to four years, with the top nine in the rankings all playing each other, home and away, over series that last at least three Tests.
Positions are calculated on the percentage of available points won by teams.
South Africa have played just 12 Tests in the current cycle -- all of them two-match series -- compared to England's 22 -- and have not played either England or Australia.
South Africa also sent a third-string side to New Zealand in early 2024, and lost. It kept its best players at home to appear in its domestic T20 competition. That was a financial sign of the times, as is Cricket South Africa not scheduling any home Tests for 2025/26.
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