Despite criticism of the same, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to retain the percentage of points system for the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) spanning 2021-23, according to its acting CEO Geoff Allardice.
The ICC had to rejig the points system implemented till last year as the ongoing pandemic led to several fixtures getting cancelled and adopt a method that standardised the allocation for all teams.
Earlier, a total of 120 points were assigned for every series in the WTC and teams could earn winning points out of it depending on the number of fixtures in the given series. Post the amendment, however, teams could progress or regress in the points table by the percentage of points they won from matches they contested for.
The tweak led to much discussions and debate, especially after it created an easier pathway for New Zealand to make the WTC final and made it tougher for India, who needed to beat both Australia (away) and England (at home) by a certain series margin to qualify.
Hoping for relief in the pandemic situation, which would then allow every series to be played, Allardice said the idea behind continuing with the percentage points system is to ensure that the length of the series isn’t a major factor, unlike the cycle that we’ve had.
I think we are going to stick with the percentage of points – one method to rank a team. When we looked at the first 12 months of the competition, you had teams on a number of points, but it was all relative to how many series they played.
Allardice was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
One of the ways to compare teams on an ongoing basis is what proportion of the points that have been available in the matches they played, and if they actually won. And that percentage served us well in the second half of the championship. That is part of the changes.
he added.
Allardice pointed out how the percentage points system would help balance things up better. As per the previous system, teams could earn just as many points from a two-match series played against a lower-ranked side at home as they fought for while facing a major opposition in a longer series away.
India captain Virat Kohli was one of the prominent voices to express their displeasure at the change in the points system, calling it “confusing” as it suddenly left his team vulnerable of missing out despite having won most of their previous matches.
Allardice is mindful of such opinions, but he said, given the situation, the ICC Cricket Committee had no option but to adjust with the pandemic and take into account the hurdles teams faced in being able to play all six of their planned series.
“he principle that we had when we created the competition was that every match in a series that was played as part of the Test Championship should count. The point system was also to try and reflect that a two-match series is worth the same as a five-match series.
That was trying to make sure that everyone was playing for the same number of points in total, everyone was playing for the same number of points home and away.
India’s head coach Ravi Shastri recently backed the idea of the WTC final becoming a best of three finals affair in the future. Allardice, though, said while it would be fairer to have the league decided on the basis of an expanded finale series, the time constraints and busy calendar wouldn’t realistically allow for it.
