The ICC is thinking about shaking things up with a fresh bonus points system at their board meeting in April. The idea is to reward teams that win big, especially when they’re playing away from home, in the next World Test Championship cycle. The 2025-27 WTC kicks off with India playing England in June for a five-match series.
Right now, whether you win by a hair or by a mile, you get 12 points. A tie gets you six, and a draw gets you four. But that might change. According to a report, the ICC is thinking about handing out bonus points for winning by an innings or by a huge margin, like over 100 runs.
Someone who knows what’s going on told PTI that giving bonus points for big wins has been talked about since the WTC started. A lot of teams think they don’t get enough credit for beating the big guys.
They also said that these ideas are always on the table and could come up for discussion again.
So, the ICC might bring in extra points for blowout wins. Teams could also get more points for beating top teams like India, Australia, and England, based on their rankings.
A former Indian player said that it’s a good idea and teams will try harder to win, leading to more exciting games.
The ICC is also thinking about awarding more points for wins on the road. The former player added that it would push the smaller teams since beating India in India was a big victory for New Zealand, but they didn’t get any extra points. Knowing there are extra points on the line could be a real motivator.
The ICC board might also talk about a two-tier Test system, something Cricket Australia is all for.
The former player feels that they need to talk about it a lot before they do it because some teams might not get to play against India or Australia as much. Series between India and New Zealand, or Australia and the West Indies, already happen less often than series between the top teams, so the ICC should think hard before making any changes.
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