The Bangladesh Cricket Board wants the ICC to extend the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle because it does not require the team to play their eight recently canceled games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic weighed heavily on the international calendar, as Bangladesh lacked eight tests that were part of the ICC test championship that started on August 1 last year.
The eight tests include an away game against Pakistan in April, a series of two games against Australia in June, two tests against New Zealand and three against Sri Lanka.
“If the current cycle of the ICC test championship is not extended, there is no way we can play these eight test games in the set timeframe for the first cycle,” said BCB Cricket Department chairman Akram Khan to Cricbuzz.
“We look forward to seeing what ICC does with the test championship because if it isn’t shuffled again, there is little way to play the eight canceled test games,” he said.
The World Test Championship (WTC) comprises nine of the twelve test game nations that face each other in a two-year cycle. All nations should play six sets of tests – three at home and three away, but not all will play the same number of tests.
Each team can score a maximum of 120 points from each series, and the two teams with the most points at the end of the league stage will contest the final in June. A total of 72 tests should be played between July 2019 and March 31, 2021.
BCB chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury also said that there will be little leeway to play these canceled tests if the ICC test finals take place next year on schedule.
“If the final of the test championship is scheduled to take place next June, the fate of these games (eight tests) will be very low as this means that these test games will not be possible as we have no place to play these games next June.” said Nizamuddin.
“But if the test championship end date is extended, there may be a chance, but even after the extension, even if there is an opportunity, it will affect other schedules as we have a compact schedule through 2023. ” he said.
India is currently at the top of the World Test Championship, followed by Australia.
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