Awarding Countries Their First Tests

In another "Emperor's clothes" moment I was asked to define Test cricket. To answer the question I decided to do a bit of historical research.

Australia and England played the first Test match in 1877, although it was given Test status after it had occurred. Before the match the local press called the home team a combination side, only deciding to call it "Australia" after it had beaten the representatives of the mother country. By no stretch of the imagination could the two teams be said to represent the best players of their respective countries. The English team was exclusively professional, so there was no WG Grace, who was then at the height of his powers. The Australians were missing the bowling talents of Frederick Spofforth and Frank Allan, who withdrew two days before the start of the game, as he preferred to attend an agricultural show instead. From such an inauspicious start, Test cricket was born.

A list of the first tests for the other nations are:

• March 1889 South Africa lost by 8 wickets to England
• June 1928 West Indies lost by an innings and 58 runs to England
• January 1930 New Zealand lost by 8 wickets to England
• June 1932 India lost by 158 runs to England.
• October 1952 Pakistan lost by an innings and 70 runs to India
• February 1982 Sri Lanka lost by 7 wickets to England
• In October 1992 Zimbabwe dominated a drawn Test against India.
• In November 2000, Bangladesh lost by 9 wickets to India.

Interestingly Australia and Zimbabwe are the only countries not to lose their first Test. With the exception of England, all other countries went down to heavy defeats which suggests that a nation needs a few years to establish itself in Test cricket. Bangladesh broke their duck by winning their first test in January this year, although this was against Zimbabwe side. The problem is there is no procedure for removing teams, like Zimbabwe, that are simply not strong enough to play Test cricket.

Like the Conservative Party leaders of yesteryear, countries don't so much achieve Test match status as have it bestowed on them in a hidden process that defies explanation. However, like the Conservative Party leadership contest, the process of awarding countries Test match status cannot defy the modern world forever. Today's world demands a transparency in such processes and above all a procedure that is fair and is seen to be fair.

Therefore I suggest that every two years the best ICC Trophy team (Kenya? Scotland??) should play a three match series against the lowest ranked Test team for the right to Test status. A drawn series would mean maintenance of the status quo.