‘Something needs to be done’ – AB de Villiers calls for end to disparity in WTC scheduling

Former South African legendary batter AB de Villiers has broken his silence on the disparity in the World Test Championship's schedule. Despite winning the title, South Africa will play just 14 Test matches in the next cycle, while Australia will play 22 games and England will play 21 Test matches. Two-time runners-up India are also set to play 18 games in the fourth WTC cycle. 

Veteran Sri Lankan batter Angelo Mathews, who is playing his final Test match, had complained about the lack of Test matches as one of the reasons behind the move. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are set to play the lowest number of games in the WTC cycle, with 12 encounters each. The likes of Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and Ireland aren’t even part of the World Test Championship cycle. 

In his chat with BBC, the former Proteas skipper said while the WTC title win won't be lost, there will be fewer Test matches. The 41-year-old said, “This moment won't be lost. But yes, to a certain extent, something needs to be done. I saw the schedule that came out for the next cycle of the WTC and there is an improvement, but I still feel there's work that needs to be done there just to get it as consistent as possible and as fair as possible for all Test-playing nations."

AB de Villiers urges ICC to have longer cycle for WTC. 

Currently the World Test Championships have two-year cycles and the next final is set to be played in 2027. England and India are in the running to host the finals but it is thought that it will be England who will get to host the next three WTC finals as well. 

AB de Villiers said, "You want to get to that final feeling like you've played against all these nations. Maybe a four-year cycle would be nice. We've done that in the past with one-day internationals, so why not in Test cricket? It would make sense and it would give the organisers just so much more time to get a really fair, well-balanced system out there.”

“It's a long time until our next Test match, but there's no doubt it won't be forgotten. I've absolutely no doubt the Proteas have sort of stirred the emotions of the South African cricketing fans and they will patiently wait for that next encounter." The former Proteas skipper went on to add.