Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has proposed a new proposal to make the ICC World Test Championship Final a three-match series across multiple countries. However, not fully disregarding the concerns of a few logistical and tight scheduling issues, Lyon believes that a multi-match final is real Test cricket, not a single match in which everything depends on a single session of play.
Nathan Lyon’s Unique Proposal
He praised the unique two-year format of the World Test Championship, its distinguishing feature from any other cricket tournament, because teams know that they have to perform at an elite level over a longer period.
“It’s not tournament play. You can’t just be scraping into the semi-finals and losing two games or what not,” Lyon said. “You’ve got to be consistent over the two years of the cycle.
“One thing I would like to see, I’d like to see the World Test Championship Final potentially in a three-match series. That may become a little bit better because you potentially can lose using a Test match in one session where [in a three-match series] it may allow teams to bounce back all your show their dominance and win 3-0. We’re pretty time-poor anyway and that’s going to be a challenge but that’s one thing I would change.
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“You potentially could go one in England, one in India, one in Australia, so you have all different conditions, but obviously, the timing of that changes everything. I don’t think we’re going to get on the MCG in the middle of August, just putting it out there.”
World Test Championship Carries Huge Importance
Lyon also spoke about the format of the World Test Championship, which takes away any “dead rubbers” in individual series to ensure each game has ample importance and competitive fervor and that every point counts throughout the two-year cycle.
He spoke about how the encounter this year in Brisbane against the West Indies is going to be so memorable because Australia lost by just a handful of runs, thanks to that fabulous bowling performance from Shamar Joseph.
This was Australia’s only home loss in the current World Test Championship cycle, leaving them, at this point, second to India in the standings.
“Oh, yeah. I’ll just say it’s [World Test Championship] the pinnacle for Test cricket. People say it’s sometimes a dead rubber when you turn 2-0 up in a three-match series or whatever it may be. But I feel like there’s no more dead rubbers. I’ve never considered them dead rubbers, but there’s always points on offer now. You look at us last year losing against West Indies at the Gabba hurt us a fair bit.
“But then I would go to New Zealand and win away from home, which is one of the biggest challenges in Test cricket.”
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Nathan Lyon opined about the World Test Championship equal to the World Cup.
“It’s massive, but I feel like the World Test Championship for me is like the World Cup and that’s a genuine big World Cup. When you are competing against the best for long periods of time over a two-year period, you have to be good for the whole lot,” he added.
Australia will be playing five-match Test series against India. The series is popularly known is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Aussies will be eyeing a win as India has established its dominance with two consecutive wins in the series.
