West Indies great Clive Lloyd is “disturbed” by the idea of a two-tier structure for test cricket and believes efforts should instead be focused on ensuring struggling teams play more often against the top sides.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, India, Australia and England are in talks to divide test cricket into two divisions to allow cricket’s “Big Three” to play each other more often.
The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Indian chairman Jay Shah will meet representatives of the Australian and English boards this month, the report said.
Lloyd was fiercely critical of the idea, which he believed could be catastrophic for the likes of the West Indies, which ruled the game in the 1970s and 1980s when he was captain.
“I think it will be terrible for all those countries who worked so hard to get the test status,” the 80-year-old told an online media interaction. “Now they’ll be playing among themselves in the lower section. How are they going to make it to the top? When you play against better teams.”
The ICC did not offer any immediate comment on whether the proposal was under consideration.
Test cricket is reeling under the popularity of T20 leagues across the world, but the format produces intense drama at the top level.
India just played a blockbuster series in front of huge crowds in Australia, and their next test assignment is another five-match series in England in June-July.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri is a vocal supporter of the two-tier concept, which he believes can help test cricket survive against T20.
“The top teams play against each other more often, so there is a contest. You want contests,” Shastri told SEN radio during India’s fifth test against Australia.
Lloyd warned that being banished to the lower tier with a corresponding drop in funding could lead to the disintegration of the West Indies team, which is made up of players from 15 island nations.
“Our islands have got to play together. We’ve been doing that for years,” he added.
While a cricket-mad India has emerged as the game’s financial engine, Lloyd recalled how the West Indies contributed to the game’s development, including by lending their players to county cricket in England in the 1970s.
“We were the cash cows for a lot of countries over the years … people must recognise that,” he said. “But we are at that situation now where we need the help, and we can’t get it.”