There was no formal structure of international cricket until the early twenty first century. It had long been traditional for countries, without any intervention from a body such as the International Cricket Council (ICC), to organize for themselves the various cricket matches. The ICC later committed the Test cricket playing nations to play each other in a programme of matches over a period of 10 years. This system was set up to encourage some of the better-established countries to play the lesser nations more frequently.
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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 or may include one team only for that tournament. 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 bonus point system is also sometimes used in a triangular tournament, including the Commonwealth Bank Series and the NatWest Series.
The Test series can last from two matches to six matches. Six-match series were common around 1980, and the Ashes Test series in England was a six-match series from 1981 to 1997 (but five matches in Australia). The last six-match series was held in 1997-98 between the West Indies and England. The 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 One Day Internationals; traditional nations such as England and Australia usually organize five-match series, while nations where one-day cricket is very popular (such as India and Pakistan) 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:
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 - although the one-day matches and Test matches are usually played in groups. These days, it is rare that a Test series is interrupted by One Day Internationals.
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 because the overwhelming number of cricket matches has spoiled the pitch.
In contrast to the one-dayers, Tests are almost never held in neutral venues. A once-off triangular Test tournament was held in England in 1912, which saw South Africa play Australia in three tests at neutral venues, but otherwise it has only been security risks which have seen Tests played on neutral soil. Most notably, Pakistan has "hosted" Test series in England, the UAE and Sri Lanka in the 21st century. Security implications have also affected tours to Sri Lanka and tours to Zimbabwe in the past.
In addition to the one-day series and tournaments organized by the nations themselves, the ICC organizes two One Day International tournaments. The World Cup is held every four years; it involves all the Test-playing nations and a number of teams advancing from the immediately preceding ICC World Cup Qualifier. The ICC Champions Trophy, previously known as the ICC Knockout Cup, is a shorter tournament held every two years in between World Cups.
This is a plan designed to make all countries play each other for Test cricket over a period of ten years, and was approved in February 2001 by the ICC member countries. Starting from 2002 and running until 2011, it ensures that each Test country will play the other nine home and away over a period of ten years, in addition to any matches the individual cricket boards organise on their own. Thus, India and Pakistan played 12 ODIs and 6 Tests against each other in their respective countries (not including neutral ground ODI tournaments such as the Asia Cup) from 2004 to April 2005, and played a further series of 3 Tests and 5 ODIs in the winter of 2006. However, because of the rigorous schedule of the Ten Year Plan, there is hardly any time left over to schedule other series, and there have been voices criticising the amount of international cricket that is played,[1] with the risk of injury and player burnout as reasons for why this amount should be reduced. The ICC have defended their policy, citing the number of international players in English county cricket as a sign that there is not too much cricket for the players.[2]
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.)Currently England is on the top of the table.
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.
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