ICC mulls Test championship

'Twenty20 will benefit ODIs' - Dave Richardson "Already we have seen that the approach to the batting, fielding and bowling skills involved have to be improved if you want success in Twenty20. Those skills are going to have a direct benefit on 50-over cricket. I think 50-over cricket is the perfect balance between Tests and very short, action-filled Twenty20."

The ICC is considering a Test championship to ensure that, amid the increasing popularity of the Twenty20 format, "a special place is maintained for Test cricket in the calendar".

"The ICC will consider a number of options in the upcoming board meetings (in Dubai later this month), one of which is an option to introduce a Test championship or league," the ICC's acting chief executive, Dave Richardson, said at the launch ceremony of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

The details of the championship, though, are yet to be worked out. "There are so many ways this could be done, a league over one year, two years or four years," he said. "I am certainly in favour of looking at such an option to make sure we provide a good quality context for Test cricket to take place so that it can be preserved as the pinnacle of the game."

Richardson acknowledged that domestic Twenty20 leagues such as the IPL had been a "fantastic success" but maintained that international cricket remained the game's highest level. "If you ask any player around the world what he would like to do, he would like to play Test cricket for his country."

The first ICC Test Championship was launched in May 2001 and was a ranking system based on the results of the most recent series (a minimum of two Tests constituted a series), home and away, between each of the teams. It was then revamped in 2003 to reflect the results of each Test, rather than an entire series, and also to take into account the strength of the opponents while awarding points.