International structure of cricket

The structure of international cricket has evolved only recently from a traditional ad hoc basis. It had long been traditional for the countries, without any interference from a body such as the International Cricket Council (ICC), to organize for themselves the various cricket matches. Recently, however, the ICC has committed the Test cricket playing nations to play each other in a programme of matches over a period of 10 years. This was set up to encourage some of the better established countries to play the lesser nations more frequently.

The structure will no doubt evolve further as a result of the first Twenty20 international match between New Zealand and Australia on February 17 2005 and the popularity of Twenty20 cricket in general.

General structure

Most Test matches and One-Day series take place in the form of "tours". In a tour, one nation travels to another and plays warm-up matches, first-class matches against domestic teams such as county or state teams, a series of Test matches against the host nation, and either a series of one-day matches against the host nation or a tournament involving the host nation and another touring nation. The "triangular tournament" format is often used when one tour is about to conclude and the other has just begun or may include one team only for that tournament. In the tournament, the three teams play each other either two or three times. The two teams with the most points (usually two points for a win, one point for a no-result or tie, and no points for a loss) qualify for the one-game final. The bonus point system is also often used in a triangular tournament - if a team's run rate is a fixed percentage higher than the opponent's (usually 33%), an extra bonus point is awarded to the winner. Examples of tournaments where the bonus point system is used include the VB Series and the NatWest Series.

The Test series can last from two matches to six matches. Six-match series were common around 1980, and the Ashes Test series in England was a six-match series from 1981 to 1997 (but five matches in Australia). The last six-match series was held in 1997-98 between the West Indies and England. The most important series last five matches, while the less important ones last two to four matches. The length of the series is based on the home country's attitude towards one-day internationals; traditional nations such as England and Australia usually organize five-match series, while nations where one-day cricket is very popular (such as India and Pakistan) favour three-match series. At most, a perpetual trophy is awarded to the winning team, or to the winner of the previous series in the case of a drawn series. The Ashes (for England versus Australia) is the most famous perpetual trophy. Other perpetual trophies include:
*Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia-West Indies)
*Trans Tasman Trophy (Australia-New Zealand)
**(The ODI trophy between these two nations is the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy)
*Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia-India)
*Wisden Trophy (England-West Indies)
*Warne-Muralitharan Trophy (Australia-Sri Lanka)

The One-day series lasts from three to seven matches. Usually, the shorter one-day series are played at the same time as longer Test series - although the one-day matches and Test matches are usually played in groups. These days, it is rare that a Test series is interrupted by one-day internationals. In addition to tours, nations may organize one-day matches at neutral venues. The Sahara Cup was a one-day series played annually between India and Pakistan in Toronto, until the Indian government ordered the suspension of all cricketing ties with Pakistan, which were revived in 2004. Similarly, a semiannual Triangular Tournament was organized at Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament almost always involved the traditional rivals India and Pakistan. However, the tournament has lost its luster because the overwhelming number of cricket matches has spoiled the pitch. In contrast to the one-dayers, Tests are almost never held in neutral venues. A triangular Test tournament was held in England in 1912, requiring South Africa to play Australia in Manchester, London and Nottingham. One notable recent exception occurred when Pakistan played some Test matches in Sharjah; many other nations had decided to boycott Pakistani grounds due to violence, including bombings, that had occurred during a tour by the New Zealand cricket team.

Security implications have also affected tours to Sri Lanka, and tours to Zimbabwe are currently being questioned due to the political situation in that country. In the 2003 World Cup tournament, New Zealand forfeited its game scheduled in Kenya.

In addition to the one-day series and tournaments organized by the nations themselves, the ICC organizes two tournaments. The World Cup is held every four years; it involves all the Test-playing nations, Kenya, and also a number of qualifying nations. The ICC Champions Trophy, previously known as the ICC Knockout Cup, is held every two years in between World Cups. In the Champions Trophy, a single loss is likely to eliminate a team from the tournament.

ICC Ten Year Plan

This is a plan designed to make all countries play each other for Test cricket over a period of ten years, was approved in February 2001 by the ICC member countries. Starting from 2002 and running until 2011, it ensures that each Test country will play the other nine home and away over a period of ten years, in addition to any matches the individual cricket boards organise on their own. Thus, India and Pakistan played 12 ODIs and 6 Tests against each other in their respective countries (not including neutral ground ODI tournaments such as the Asia Cup) from 2004 to April 2005, and played a further series of 3 Tests and 5 ODIs in the winter of 2006. However, because of the rigorous schedule of the Ten Year Plan, there is hardly any time left over to schedule other series, and there have been voices criticising the amount of international cricket that is played [" [http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2002/mar/20kapil.htm Too much cricket hurting the game: Kapil Dev] " from rediff.com, 20 March 2002 (accessed 22 September 2005)] , with the risk of injury and player burnout as reasons for why this amount should be reduced. The ICC have defended their policy, citing the number of international players in English county cricket as a sign that there is not too much cricket for the players. [" [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_7-9-2004_pg2_10 Mani dismisses suggestions there is too much cricket] from Daily Times Pakistan, 9 July 2004 (accessed 22 September 2005)]

Test Championship

The ICC instituted the Test Championship table to permit fans to compare all the Test teams. The Table is a running one, that is, whoever is on top at a certain time will formally hold the Test trophy. (The Table is not like a league standings table, where the top team at the end of a certain period of time becomes Champion.)

ODI Championship

The ODI (One-Day International) championship was created for reasons similar to the Test one, and it has a similar structure. The championship does not replace the World Cup; the latter still carries much more significance to most cricket fans.

ee also

* International Cricket in 2004
* International cricket in 2004-05
* International cricket in 2005
* International cricket in 2005-06
* International cricket in 2006-07
* International cricket in 2007
* International cricket in 2007-08

References

# [http://www.htcricket.com/htcricket/87_9758.htm HindustanTimes.com - ICC Ten Year Plan] [http://www.geocities.com/cricket.worldcup/news.html Cricket News]