VAUGHAN'S VIEWS Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has revealed how he believes the ICC can 'keep Test cricket relevant'. Picture: William WEST / AFP
Image: William WEST / AFP
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has continued to lead the calls for a change to the format of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Vaughan was especially vocal after South Africa beat Pakistan in their Boxing Day Test match in Centurion. The win meant the Proteas had qualified for the WTC final with a game to spare.
It was then that Vaughan said about the Temba Bavuma-led South Africa: “they’ve got to the final by beating pretty much nobody”.
With the conclusion of the India-Australia five-match Test series coming on Monday, Vaughan doubled down on his belief that the format needed to be changed.
"It has been a series that has only served to strengthen my views on where the game is headed and what administrators should be looking at," Vaughan said in a column for The Telegraph in London and The Sydney Morning Herald.
"I believe it is a four-day product with a set number of overs each day enforced, three matches minimum per series and two divisions of six, including promotion and relegation.”
Vaughan makes a good point about the system being unequal and unfair, but fails to appreciate the wider nuances of the economy of global cricket. This is a direct result of the big three (India, England and Australia) being protectionist and self-serving in their retention of power, amongst the three wealthiest cricket nations.
"I was delighted to read in this masthead the ICC are considering a two-tier structure from 2027 which could see the Ashes staged twice every three years," said Vaughan.
"I have been saying for a long time this is the way to keep Test cricket relevant by ensuring the best play the best as often as possible, and we get fewer mis-matches.
"There is much to iron out before any major changes are made for 2027, but there is time."