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World Test final at Lord's? BCCI says no
Tuesday 17 October 2017

World Test final at Lord's? BCCI says no
ICC has stated the Test and ODI leagues are scheduled to start in 2019 and 2020 respectively 
The International Cricket Council (ICC) managed to put in motion, last week, the long standing proposal to have a championship for Test and one day cricket.
The Test and ODI leagues are scheduled to start in 2019 and 2020 respectively with the Test league culminating in a World Test League Championship Final in 2021.
However sources have confirmed to India Today, the venue for the mega final remains undecided. This was following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s opposition to let Lords host the marquee Test finale.
"The Indian representative at the ICC meet argued, there could be two Asian sides competing in the final. It could even be India-Bangladesh. They may want to play the match at Eden Gardens, in that case," confirmed a source who attended the meet.
With a number of seasoned BCCI administrators out of power under Apex Court guidelines, the ICC was happy to see the entire ICC board including the BCCI giving the championship idea a green signal.
With the BCCI currently run by the CEO under the Court appointed administrators' supervision making sense of their liberty to schedule even a 5 Test series with teams they reach an agreement with bilaterally, they did not take the usual confrontonist position.
Noting BCCI's refusal to fix the venue for the final, it was decided not to close the matter and deliberate upon it in the coming days when the Championship scheduling is decided further.
The Test finale in 2021 to be contested to decide the best Test team in the world for efforts spanning two years will now have the same importance as the final of the 50 overs World Cup  and World T20.
The Test series league will see nine teams play six series over two years - three home and three away - with each having a minimum of two Tests and a maximum of five and all matches being played over five days.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) managed to put in motion, last week, the long standing proposal to have a championship for Test and one day cricket.

The Test and ODI leagues are scheduled to start in 2019 and 2020 respectively with the Test league culminating in a World Test League Championship Final in 2021.

However sources have confirmed to India Today, the venue for the mega final remains undecided. This was following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s opposition to let Lords host the marquee Test finale.

"The Indian representative at the ICC meet argued, there could be two Asian sides competing in the final. It could even be India-Bangladesh. They may want to play the match at Eden Gardens, in that case," confirmed a source who attended the meet.

With a number of seasoned BCCI administrators out of power under Apex Court guidelines, the ICC was happy to see the entire ICC board including the BCCI giving the championship idea a green signal.

With the BCCI currently run by the CEO under the Court appointed administrators' supervision making sense of their liberty to schedule even a 5 Test series with teams they reach an agreement with bilaterally, they did not take the usual confrontonist position.

Noting BCCI's refusal to fix the venue for the final, it was decided not to close the matter and deliberate upon it in the coming days when the Championship scheduling is decided further.

The Test finale in 2021 to be contested to decide the best Test team in the world for efforts spanning two years will now have the same importance as the final of the 50 overs World Cup  and World T20.

The Test series league will see nine teams play six series over two years - three home and three away - with each having a minimum of two Tests and a maximum of five and all matches being played over five days.

(Courtesy: India Today)

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