ICC Acting CEO Geoff Allardice Confirms Sticking To The Percentage Points System For The ICC WTC Cycle 2021-23

ICC’s acting CEO Geoff Allardice has asserted that the percentage of points won ranking system will stay for the ICC World Test Championship cycle 2021-2023 as well. The COVID-19 pandemic emerging in March forced the ICC to create a standardized scoring system to determine the standings for the inaugural edition of the ICC WTC. Geoff Allardice revealed that the system had served them well in the second part of the tournament.

The percentage system saw New Zealand gaining big in the rankings as they surpassed India, Australia, and England to become the first team to reach the final. New Zealand had suffered a crushing Test series loss to Australia down under; however, it did not affect them significantly. On the other hand, India had to take a more scenic route to progress to the decider at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

Geoff Allardice confirmed they would stick to the percentage of points for the next cycle of the ICC World Test Championship as well since they observed too many teams on a number of points; however, it was relative to how many series they featured in. Allardice believes that the proportion of points available in all the matches they played helped them separate the sides.

“I think we are going to stick with the percentage of points – one method to rank a team. When we looked at the first 12 months of the competition, you had teams on a number of points, but it was all relative to how many series they played. One of the ways to compare teams on an ongoing basis is what proportion of the points that have been available in the matches they played, and if they actually won. And that percentage served us well in the second half of the championship. That is part of the changes,” Allardice said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Every team will be judged on the percentage of those points that it wins and not on the total: Geoff Allardice

Geoff Allardice further commented that even though the points allotted for each series would be the same, teams would be judged based on the percentage of points it wins instead of the total.

“The other thing is, if we are using the percentage of points one, we can put a standardised number of points per Test match, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s a two-Test series or a five-Test series; the same number of points will be available for each match that’s played, but every team will be judged on the percentage of those points that it wins and not on the total,” he added.

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