Following West Indian great Clive Lloyd’s criticism of the two-tier Test system, former South African captain Graeme Smith has also raised concerns over the proposal.
The top three cricketer boards including India, Australia and England are reportedly discussing a proposal for creating a two-tier Test system.
As per the proposal, India, Australia, England, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand will be in the first tier and will play against each other in the longer format.
The second tier will have the West Indies, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe.
Former South African captain Graeme Smith has expressed concerns about the fairness in the structure of the system while mentioning that no other sport limits competition to just the top three teams.
Read more: West Indian great slams plans for two-tier Test system
“I also do feel for the ICC. I was just looking at a note this morning about how much England and India are playing each other over the next period, and Australia and vice versa. It gets extremely hard for the other nations… India are probably the best because they are commercially so reliable for the other nations,” he said.
Graeme Smith also urged for strengthening the cricket boards and structures of smaller nations instead of opting for the two-tier Test system.
“How does the ICC create a structure that’s fair in the top three’s eyes? I think what world cricket needs is South Africa to be strong, the West Indies to be strong, and Sri Lanka to improve. Otherwise, can you see a world where there are only three nations playing cricket in the future?” he said.
His statement came soon after West Indian great Clive Llyod lambasted the plans for a two-tier Test system.
“I think it will be terrible for all those countries who work so hard to get to Test match status and now they’ll be playing among themselves in the lower section,” Clive Llyod said in an interview with a West Indian media outlet.
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