International structure of cricket

The structure of international cricket has evolved only recently from a traditional ad hoc basis. It had long been traditional for the countries, without any interference from a body such as the International Cricket Council (ICC), to organize for themselves the various cricket matches. Recently, however, the ICC has committed the Test cricket playing nations to play each other in a programme of matches over a period of 10 years. This was set up to encourage some of the better established countries to play the lesser nations more frequently.

The structure will no doubt evolve further as a result of the first Twenty20 international match between New Zealand and Australia on January 15 2005 and the popularity of Twenty20 cricket in general.

General structure

Most Test matches and One-Day - series take place in the form of "tours." In a tour, one nation travels to another and plays warm-up matches, first-class matches against domestic teams such as county or state teams, a series of Test matches against the host nation, and either a series of one-day matches against the host nation or a tournament involving the host nation and another touring nation. The "triangular tournament" format is often used when one tour is about to conclude and the other has just begun. In the tournament, the three teams play each other either two or three times. The two teams with the most points (usually two points for a win, one point for a no-result or tie, and no points for a loss) qualify for the one-game final.

The Test series can last from two matches to six matches. Six-match series are extremely rare. Most important series last five matches, while the less important ones last two to four matches. The length of the series is based on the home country's attitude towards the modern form of cricket, one-day internationals; traditional nations such as England and Australia usually organize five-match series, while one-day crazy nations such as India favour three-match series. At most, a perpetual trophy is awarded to the winning team, or to the winner of the previous series in the case of a drawn series. The Ashes (for England versus Australia) is the most famous perpetual trophy. Other perpetual trophies include:

• Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia-West Indies)
• Trans-Tasman Trophy (Australia-New Zealand)
• Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia-India)
• Wisden Trophy (England-West Indies)

The One-day series lasts from three to seven matches. Usually, the shorter one-day series are played at the same time as longer Test series. In addition to tours, nations may organize one-day matches at neutral venues. The Sahara Cup was a one-day series played annually between India and Pakistan in Toronto, until the Indian government ordered the suspension of all cricketing ties with Pakistan, which were revived in 2004. Similarly, a semiannual Triangular Tournament was organized at Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament almost always involved the traditional rivals India and Pakistan. However, the tournament has lost its luster due to the fact that the overwhelming number of cricket matches has spoiled the pitch. In contrast to the one-dayers, Tests are never held in neutral venues. One notable recent exception occurred when Pakistan played some Test matches in Sharjah; many other nations had decided to boycott Pakistani grounds due to violence, including bombings, that had occurred during a tour by the New Zealand cricket team.

Security implications have also affected tours to Sri Lanka, and tours to Zimbabwe are currently being questioned due to the political situation in that country. In the 2003 World Cup tournament, New Zealand forfieted its game scheduled in Zimbabwe.

In addition to the one-day series and tournaments organized by the nations themselves, the ICC organizes two tournaments. The World Cup is held every four years; it involves all the Test-playing nations, Kenya, and also a number of qualifying nations. The ICC Champions Trophy, previously known as the ICC Knockout Cup, is held every two years in between World Cups. In the Champions Trophy, a single loss is likely to eliminate a team from the tournament.

Test Championship

The ICC instituted the Test Championship table to permit fans to compare all the Test teams. The Table is a running one, that is, whoever is on top at a certain time will formally hold the Test trophy. (The Table is not like a league standings table, where the top team at the end of a certain period of time becomes Champion.)

For details, see ICC Test Championship.

ODI Championship

The ODI (One Day International) championship was created for reasons similar to the Test one, and it has a similar structure. The championship does not replace the World Cup; the latter still carries much more significance to most cricket fans.

For details, see ICC ODI Championship.