Test championship system is "stupid": Waugh

Greg Buckle

The world test championship introduced this month is "stupid" because every test should count according to Australia's captain Steve Waugh.

The championship, based on a model pioneered by cricket publication Wisden, was introduced this month to impose a clear league table for the sport at the top level in a bid to win back fans.

It will award two points for a series win and one point for a series draw but one-test series are ignored and a 3-2 series victory is given the same weight as a 5-0 whitewash.

"I wouldn't think it ("dead" tests going unrewarded) would leave it open to match-fixing, but I think it's stupid," Waugh told reporters at Sydney airport on Tuesday.

"We pride ourselves in every test match being special and what's the point of playing if they don't count for anything?

"They still count for our personal pride and the team. I must admit I haven't looked at the championship specifically and seen how it works, but I'm surprised those test matches don't count, they should count.

"That's what it's all about, that's why you're the number one side, because you can perform I guess when other people don't expect you to."

NUMBER ONE
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has drawn up a starting table based on recent results rather than beginning from scratch.

Australia recently won a world record 16 consecutive tests and is ranked number one despite losing a series 2-1 in March in India.

The championship, involving the 10 test-playing nations, began with the England-Pakistan two-test series which started last week.

Waugh said the packed cricket calendar might force countries to adopt four-test series, rather than five.

"Four tests might be the most convenient number, I don't know," Waugh said.

"With five, you definitely sort out the best team."

Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive Malcolm Speed said the ACB had considered playing two five-test series against South Africa home and away, starting with five tests in Australia at the end of this year.

Speed said the workload for the players would have been too much and Waugh agreed.

"Five here and five in South Africa is pretty much ridiculous," Waugh said.

"Ten tests in a row against the same side and I think you're on automatic pilot by about the seventh Test, I don't think too many people would be watching it, you've got to keep it special and not overdo it."

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
Waugh said if the ICC were to introduce any technological advances aimed at assisting umpires they should be trialled at lower levels of the game.

The ICC's cricket committee is meeting in London this week.

Speed said the ACB supported technology provided it improved the game and introduced a level of certainty while Waugh did not want the game to become "too Americanised" with each decision referred to a video replay.

"If they've got the technology to show where a ball has carried for a catch then use it, but I think at the moment it's unclear and it's caused more controversy than the issues that it solves," Waugh said.

Meanwhile, Waugh said he would welcome the release of the ICC's report on match-fixing, whatever its contents.

The first report by the ICC's anti-corruption unit, who have spent six months investigating how match-fixing took hold in the sport, is due to be released on Wednesday.

"We want to know what's going on and people want the game cleaned up," Waugh said.

"So the sooner it comes out the better."

Australia's one-day squad will fly to England on Saturday, while other test players are due to leave in mid-June for the three-month Ashes tour which ends in late August.

The five-test series starts on July 5 after a limited overs competition involving Australia, Pakistan and England.

Australia play hosts to New Zealand and South Africa for a total of six tests between November and January.

The ACB said it had agreed a new five-year sponsorship deal with Ansett Australia, the country's second largest airline, starting from the 2001-02 season.

"The sponsorship allows Ansett Australia naming rights to each test match played in Australia during the time of the agreement, as well as branding on test match playing shirts and training apparel and other supplementary benefits including signage at venues," the board said in a statement.

Mail Cricket Editor