I'd much rather see New Zealand draw this match and win the series 1-0 than give India a chance of winning, this way it shows to the big 3 (Englan, India and Australia) that the recent vote the boards just have is a silly idea and should be left to how it was.
Rubbish. India losing a Test series overseas doesn't send any message to anybody - most unfortunately not even to the BCCI selectors who keep persisting with having a defensive ODI captain (look at the way his fielders follow the ball) in charge of their Test team and the guys with the new ball bowling 120 km/h dibbly dobbly crap.
It is entirely sensible to have the three boards which fund the development of cricket everywhere else having a greater say in the running of the game than the other nations which can't even manage to break even without the ICC dole. It's not like they granted themselves absolute control or set up a formalised division system, all they went for in the end (with unconditional support from NZ, South Africa, Pakistan, the West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) was the de-regulation of Test Cricket and guaranteed places on certain management committees.
If Michael Clarke was in this position going into the last day of the Sydney Test in the last Ashes (I know I'm dreaming here
) do you think he would declare 325 ahead and give England a chance of winning? I don't think so.
Of course he would have, because - unlike McCullum, Cook and Dhoni - he has the killer instinct needed to be a Test Cricket captain and the chance of 5-0 would have been worth the risk of 4-1. He made a much more marginal declaration to try and win a dead rubber during the last winter Ashes series in England, one which did leave England enough time to win if the light hadn't faded early.
The points system you mentioned is a good idea if there is a 2 tier system, but perhaps it should be done quite simply 3 points for a win, 1 point each for a draw/tie, 0 points for a loss and the promotion/relegation happens every 2 years, that way you play teams in the same division (and the occasional cross division series) at least once in the 2 year cycle. Perhaps the 2 year cycle can begin in April as there is usually no Test matches played late March/early April, mainly due to IPL
The tried and true points system of the best First Class competition in the world would be more fit for Test cricket than pinching from another sport like soccer.
6 points for the winner of the match.
2 points for the leader of the first innings if the opposition wins or there is no result.
3 points each for a tie.
There should be no motive for batting out a boring draw as NZ have just done, not losing and retaining a better points for/against ratio should be enough of a reward in itself.
Promotion/relegation every four years is much more sensible than every two, it allows enough time for both home and away play within the same division, some inter-division play and at the end of the cycle a final between the top two and a promotion/relegation playoff. Two years would be way too compact for scheduling to be worked out.
The season starting in September would be more appropriate than May, September-October being a time where the championship final and promotion/relegation playoff could be played in either the northern or southern hemisphere as determined by the team earning home ground advantage.
hock:
