Is World Test Championship cricket's pinnacle?

Australia Broadcast Center

a day ago

Samantha Donovan: The Australian men's cricket team is taking to field at Lord's in London this evening for what could be the final day of the World Test Championship against South Africa. The Aussies are just in front but either side could win. The concept of a World Championship for Test cricket is relatively new and this is just the third time a final has been held. Commentators though say it's still too early to tell if the new format has been successful in revitalising the oldest form of the game. Luke Radford prepared this report.
Luke Radford: It's patience, it's tactics, it's endurance, it's skill, it's poetry, it's Test cricket.
Cricket Commentary: He's pitched up and he's bowled it all over the place right through bales go flying and Pat Cummins has got the wicket.
Luke Radford: In London with the final of the World Test Championship on a knife's edge, Australian Katie Power is getting ready to head to Lord's for day three.
Katie Power: It is being played at Lord's which is like Melbourne Cricket Club MCC is like the birthing place of cricket. Such a beautiful game with like such nuance in it as well.
Luke Radford: But while it's considered the pinnacle of the sport, Test cricket is in decline around the world. Grounds are dwindling and shorter versions of the game like 2020 are taking over. Malcolm Conn is a former cricket writer for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
Malcolm Conn: The reality is that the biggest competition in the world by the length of the straight is the IPL because all the best players play in the IPL. That generates enormous amounts of money in terms of television rights.
Luke Radford: The IPL or Indian Premier League is a 2020 competition that pays the world's best players huge amounts of money. It's so big that some countries send teams full of reserve players to play Test matches so their biggest stars can play 2020 cricket. But cricket's governing body, the ICC, didn't want Test matches to die and out of concern was born the World Test Championship. This is just the third time a final has been held and it's between Australia and South Africa.
Luke Radford: The way works is that the nine best countries in the world all play six Test matches. Three at home, three away. The top two then play the final at a neutral ground. Malcolm Conn says while it sounds like a great concept on paper, it has issues.
Malcolm Conn: The main one which benefited South Africa was that they didn't play any of the big three, I suppose you would say, in Australia, India or England on their way through to the Test Championship.
Luke Radford: The bigger problem is that despite its lofty title, players and fans alike think when it comes to Test cricket, being world champion doesn't actually mean you're the best in the world. Malcolm Conn says it's different for every country.
Malcolm Conn: I think the pinnacle for Australian cricket would be actually to beat India in India because it's such a difficult thing to do. Australia's only won one Test series there since 1969. So if you're an Australian cricketer, you would love that.
Luke Radford: Despite these issues, this year's World Test Championship final has been a classic so far. And if South Africa can win, it'll be a huge moment for a country that's struggled on the cricket stage for more than a decade. So is the concept worth sticking with? Malcolm Conn says it's too early to know.
Malcolm Conn: I think the jury's still out. I think that while it has given Test cricket some publicity, I think that it's a little bit of a token gesture when you really do have to try and get the fabulously wealthy India and well-off countries like Australia and England and then the rest of the Test playing nations can hardly afford to play Test cricket.
Samantha Donovan: That report from Luke Radford.