Caption: President of Cricket West Indies Dr Kishore Shallow, right, with former West Indies captain Clyde Lloyd
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Legendary former West Indies captain Sir Clive Lloyd believes that if the International Cricket Council (ICC) implements a proposed two-tier World Test Championship (WTC) system it would be detrimental to the development of West Indies cricket.
Discussions are reportedly set to take place between ICC chairman Jay Shah and representatives from Australia, India and England later this month, on whether to split its 12 Full Members into two tiers based on rankings.
According to reports, consideration is also being given to revamp the nine-team World Test Championship.
If the changes are implemented, it means the West Indies would be celebrating their 100th anniversary as a Test team in 2028 in the B-tier.
However, Sir Clive, widely regarded as one of the greatest captains of all time, is of the view that a two-tier system would disadvantage the West Indies.
In fact, Sir Clive, who played 110 Tests and 87 ODIs for the West Indies, called for more Test series between the top-ranked teams and the weaker teams.
“I think it will be terrible for all those countries who worked so hard to get the Test status,” the 80-year-old said.
“Now they’ll be playing among themselves in the lower section. How are they going to make it to the top? When you play against better teams.
“We wouldn’t be able to produce the type of cricket we have produced over the years.
“You can only improve against better opposition. The better system would be to give all teams the same amount of money so they can improve,” Sir Clive added.
Sir Clive said under the two-tier system, the West Indies and the other lower ranked teams would also suffer financially.
“We were the cash cows for a lot of countries over the years … people must recognise that,” he said. “But we are at that situation now where we need the help, and we can’t get it.
“We worked hard for what we achieved and only had five million people. India have got a billion and a quarter. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, they all have more people but look at what we achieved,” Sir Clive pointed out.
“We have a great history, and now you’re going to tell us, because of a monetary situation, this is how it’s going to be.”
