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"Timeless" Cricket Test?


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Not that I'm a cricket fan, but intriguing nonetheless:

ICC open to timeless Test match final

THE ICC is considering scrapping time limits for the final of the inaugural world Test championship in 2013.

The move would be reminiscent of way the game was played in the 1930s in the search for a definitive champion of the sport's longest format.

A so-called timeless Test places no duration constraints on players, allowing for an open-ended match until a result is secured.

Haroon Lorgat, the International Cricket Council's chief executive, made the suggestion overnight for a competition set to take place in England between the four highest-ranked Test teams.

“It is common knowledge that we hope in 2013 the top four teams will be involved in two semi-finals and a final to determine a world test champion,” Lorgat said.

“Whether (drawn games) are decided on a first-innings basis or on runs scored in the game, we don't know. But they will come up with a viable formula to determine a winner.

“The final may be a timeless Test. At this stage we don't know, but we are looking into the mechanics.”

The last timeless Test was between South Africa and England at Durban in 1939, However, the match was declared a draw when no result was possible after nine days of play across 12 days. The England players had to leave or they would've missed the ship home.

As it was, England's fourth-innings total of 5-654 is still the record for a first-class match by 50 runs. That Test is also the longest.

“Statistics tell us that most Test matches now produce a result inside five days, but it may yet be a timeless Test,” Lorgat said. “It is a work in progress but I would favour finding a winner because you want a world champion.”

The Australian

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As with so many things the ICC does, they haven't thought it through properly. Chief among the problems I have with this is the one issue that no cricket administrator in the world today is apparently prepared to address - player burnout. More cricket heaped upon more cricket. There is already far too much international cricket and I don't see the overwhelming need or desire to have this sort of playoff when its very presence in the calendar is going to create far more problems than it solves.

Besides, if the ICC can't even support their match officials, then are they really the right people to be running the game?

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Not that I'm a cricket fan, but intriguing nonetheless:

:mellow: For the final of a World Cup only...You can easily see the potential for an endurance Test here. Still you can get the potential for a cliff hanger match...

...Arwebb, what do you think?

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  • 4 weeks later...

I had a look at the new ICC Future Tours programme for the period up to mid-2020 today and the Test championship playoffs are listed to take place in England in 2013 and 2017 respectively, both in June. I know we've just gone to the top of the rankings but what if we're not in it? Shouldn't a playoff system give the teams that are higher up the rankings some sort of advantage, i.e. their own conditions?

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I am sorry.. but Cricket will always in my eyes be known as a sport named after a bug. :lol:

Don't worry about it, in our world hockey is a sport played by schoolgirls on a grass field.

The last timeless Test was between South Africa and England at Durban in 1939, However, the match was declared a draw when no result was possible after nine days of play across 12 days. The England players had to leave or they would've missed the ship home.

That just sums up cricket doesn't it?! Wonderful! :lol: We all know the current England side could have had it over and done with in less than half the time! :D

I had no idea a Test world cup was happening. I'm not a big enough cricket fan to say whether that's a good idea or not, I'll trust Arwebb's judgement on this one.

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A test normally ends if the batting team is bowled out before reaching the other team's total or surpasses the other team's total, in which case they either lose or win respectively. Sometimes, normally on a pitch which is good for batting, neither happens before the end of day five (i.e. the batting team is still 'in' but hasn't reached their opponent's total). In this case the test is declared a draw.

A timeless test would not have a five-day cut off point after which a draw is declared. It would keep going until either the batting team is bowled out or the they surpass their opponenent's total.

As for when each day ends, that's normally determined by the umpire when he thinks the light is too bad to play.

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As the Test rankings stand tonight, the Test championship semi-finals in 2013 would be:

England v Sri Lanka

South Africa v India

As much as I am a very proud Englishman this evening, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that we will still be in the number one position come June 2013. We have a tough schedule this winter, a hugely exciting home series against South Africa (who beat us here in 2008) next summer and then a four-Test tour of India late next year. The great sides of the past won in all conditions. The challenge now for this England team, as good as it is, is to ensure we win in all conditions aswell.

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