New Zealand vs England Test series is not part of the ICC World Test Championship

Three Test matches were being played across the world this past week. One was played in India, another in Australia and the third one in New Zealand. While two of these were just on paper, the one in New Zealand went down to the ropes. The India vs Bangladesh test match at Eden Gardens saw Virat Kohli’s boys trounce the guests at home in three days. In Australia vs Pakistan, the Aussies made quick work of their opponents from the sub-continent, winning the match by an inning and five runs.

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However, the match between New Zealand and England was a well-fought one, going down to the final session. The English fell short despite putting up a good fight. New Zealand won the match. This test was a thing of beauty, embodying the very essence of Test matches. But unfortunately, it was an inconsequential one. You ask why? The NZ-England Test match was not part of the World Test Championship.

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That’s correct. It was just another test match, which will have no bearing on the points table. To understand why, we will need to understand the World Test Championship.

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New Zealand vs England: the inconsequential Test

The introduction of the World Test Championship has impacted the importance of the NZ-England series. As per the format of the championship, it is mandated that each test playing country will play a total of six tests, three at home and three overseas. The Test series between New Zealand and England is not part of the Test Championship. It is so because including the series would mean England would have played an extra away series. It would have impacted the scheduling.

Many cricketers believe that though the Test Championship is a good contest, the scheduling is not ideal. Indian Captain Virat Kohli even suggested a format to make the programming for World Test Championship even more perfect.

He said that the best way to have a balanced Test format would be to schedule one home and one away series. He added that India was doing well, but they had only played two away series. He stated that this scheduling anomaly needed to be addressed so that every nation had an equal chance to excel in the extended format of the game.

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