Stuart Broad Questions WTC Points System; Says Concept Needs Work

Broad said he wasn’t clear on how a 5-match Ashes can be worth the same as a 2-game India-Bangladesh series.

Stuart Broad during a training session in Chennai

Image: England Cricket Board

Senior England pacer Stuart Broad praised the ICC’s World Test Championship concept but questioned the way the points were allocated to different series’ around the world.

Broad said he wasn’t clear on how a five-match Ashes can be worth the same as a two-game series between India and Bangladesh.

India and New Zealand will play the final of the inaugural edition in Southampton’s Ageas Bowl from 18-22 June. The ICC mandates that same number of points be available from each series, irrespective of its length, so that countries that play fewer Tests are not affected adversely. According to the way the points are calculated, match results and not series results are taken into account.

“The World Test Championship is a really good concept, I just don’t think it’s quite right yet. It’s a first-time effort. I can’t quite work out how a five-match Ashes series can be worth the same as India playing Bangladesh for two Tests,” Broad said while speaking to ‘Press Association’.

In a five-match rubber, 20 per cent of the points are available each match, while in a two-match series, 50 per cent of the points are available every game.

Broad, who has picked 517 wickets in 146 Tests and stands behind James Anderson among England’s highest wicket-takers in Tests, said his country will always find it difficult to make it to the WTC final as per the current system.

“There’s something in the idea and it has given great context to the game but there needs to be work done on how it all comes together, I think,” Broad added.

England played the most number of Tests (21) in the World Test Championship. India was second with 17 matches, while bottom-placed Bangladesh played just seven games.

“We had an opportunity, but the amount of cricket we play as an England side in the current system makes it very difficult to get into the final,” Broad said.

India dashed both England and Australia’s hopes of making the final of WTC with its back-to-back series triumphs against the two teams earlier this year. England finished fourth in the WTC standings, behind Ashes rival Australia.