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South Africa defeated Pakistan today to qualify for the World Test Championship Final that will be played at Lords in June 2025. This is against all odds as cricket is governed by the top 3 India, England and Australia. This has actually bitten them in the backside as they are the only teams that have 5 test series against each other. This is how they make so much money and they take the lion share of world cricket revenue between them. The remainder are left to fight over the scraps and you do wonder how they survive.
If one looks at how many matches the "smaller " teams play it is laughable and why the longer format of test cricket is struggling in those countries. This was always seen as the pinnacle of tis sport and now it is hardly ever seen in those countries. England played 22 matches, India 19 and Australia 17 so how is that fair when you see South Africa played 12, New Zealand 14 and Sri Lanka 11 matches.
There is definitely a top tier in cricket with the top 3 making all the decisions that suit themselves and the rest are there to make up the numbers. This is why it is great when one of the "smaller" teams upsets the odds and has qualified in a tournament they would expect themselves to be involved in.
If you play more matches you will earn more money but there is no guarantee you will always win. We saw New Zealand defeat India 3-0 in India recently which would have seen them in the final if they had won those matches. Australia now need to defeat India in this current series and then defeat Sri Lanka in order to qualify and join South Africa in the final next June.
The only 5 test match series feature Australia, England and India with everyone else playing a 2 or 3 test series and this surely should be changed. If they allowed the top 4 teams on he log to play a 5 test series against each other then there would be no guarantee that the top 3 dominating world cricket would always be playing 5 tests against each other. This would make other teams become more competitive to try and make their way into the top 4.
Could you imagine England not making the top 4 and the Ashes had to be over 3 tests and not 5 and why this is just a thought and would never be allowed to happen. The money revenue generated between these two great rivals is just too big to jeopardize even though England find themselves in the 6th spot currently. This is why the top 3 dominate the voting blocks as they protect what they have.
Unfortunately a few years ago the head of each nation handed their voting rights over by allowing the top 3 to dominate the sport. At the time the head of cricket in SA was not even a cricketer and had no idea what he was allowing to happen and the top 3 took advantage. A new vote should take place every 4 years as this is not healthy for the sport and this need to change.
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