ICC chairman Greg Barclay to scrap World Test Championship, champion women's game?

Newly-elected ICC chairman Greg Barclay will succeed India's Shashank Manohar as the second independent chairman of cricket's highest governing body. The New Zealander will inherit a cricket scene facing unprecedented challenges in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. While bilateral series have begun in full flow all around the globe, many boards have had to massively cut jobs and salaries and face growing concerns over the lack of TV rights and revenue without audiences. 

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Will Greg Barclay's election spell the end of the ICC World Test Championship?

Taking over the helm of the ICC in this chaotic period, new ICC chairman Greg Barclay said to BT Sport that the ICC World Test Championship may not have lived up to its initial hype. Talking about whether he thought the World Test champions had served its purpose, Barclay conceded that "From an idealist's point of view, probably it had a lot of merits but practically, I do disagree, I am not sure whether it has achieved what it intended to do". The WTC was conceptualised with the idea of redirecting some interest back towards Test cricket. 

He also talked about how the pandemic worsened the problems he believed already existed in the format of the tournament.  "Covid has probably highlighted its shortcomings of the championship," Barclay said. The ICC has been forced to rework the WTC points system after the pandemic shortened the season considerably. The top teams will now be decided on a percentage-based system in order for the championship finals to go on as per schedule, in 2021 at Lord's.

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Barclay suggested that once this season of the WTC was over, he would like to take the idea "back to the drawing board" and "look at it in the context of the calendar and not put cricketers in a situation where it's a lot worse and not going to help us". He further added that as much as he is a "purist" and wants to maintain the "legacy" of Test cricket, "less and less countries are able to afford that arrangement and are able to play it". 

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Barclay vows to focus on the Women's game

Another burning issue that came up in Barclay's interview is the role the ICC would play in promoting women's cricket in the upcoming years. The chairman acknowledged the great divide between the men's and women's game - which has been relegated to secondary status in the hubbub of the pandemic.

He also talked about the lack of resources available to women's teams from developing nations, saying “It’s not so much around the top three or four performing nations that are making good strides around women’s cricket. The next group of countries out of the blocks probably need some help and the ICC has a role to help facilitate and help nudge that part of the game along.”

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Image Credits: ICC website