Cricket: Test championship to resurrect interest in five-day cricket

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You can't accuse world cricket's chief executives of not trying to put some order into the chaotic and often meaningless international schedule.

Those irrelevant ODI tournaments played in front of sparse audiences which have scarred the game for the past couple of decades - and been the bane of those trying to eradicate match rigging - could largely be killed off if the International Cricket Council accepts proposals for both test and one-day cricket from its Chief Executives Committee.

The group, at their meeting in Cape Town, called for a long-overdue test championship, a smaller ODI World Cup and ODI league, and an enlarged world T20 tournament.

All three are a pointer to improvements in the running and potential interest level in the international game - and a clear hint to its direction.

The test championship would culminate in a four-team playoff - suggested time 2013 for the first one, with Lord's mooted to host the final. Points would accrue, much as they do for the current world rankings.

If held today, New Zealand would miss out, as they sit eighth. India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Australia would make the semifinals.

With dwindling interest in most parts of the world, the five-day game needs invigorating. Games must have something at stake to have relevance.

A new ODI league has been proposed, starting next April, again with a four-year plan, the first winner to be crowned in April 2014. Again, New Zealand wouldn't be in the top four. They currently lie sixth.

The ODI plan excludes the World Cup, which will remain a separate entity. However, the chief executives have called for it to have a haircut - trimmed from 16 teams in 2007 to 14 on the subcontinent next February-March to 10 teams for 2015, when New Zealand are co-hosts with Australia.

The last edition in the Caribbean in 2007 was a giant snore, badly organised and far too long.

The downside of the downsizing is that it would hurt the developing nations, such as the Netherlands, Ireland or Afghanistan.

The flipside for them is the proposed enlarging of the world T20 to 16 teams, in time for the 2012 edition, to be held in Sri Lanka. A league table for T20 has also been proposed.

As that version is of far shorter duration, having more teams is not an issue, and it at least keeps those outside the nine test nations with a foothold at one of the game's larger tables.

The clear hint in this? T20's rise continues apace; ODIs need a kick in the pants, sharpish.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said he would push the ICC executive to consider the proposals smartly.

The CEC, which includes New Zealand Cricket's Justin Vaughan, has also pushed for an end to bland pitches, which produce a gross imbalance between bat and ball.

They also want to encourage games to continue unless conditions are dangerous. In other words, if you've got floodlights, use them.