Thread by @deeputalks

THREAD [1/6]

How fair is the ICC Test Championship points system?

🔹Nine teams play six series each with a series carrying a max of 120 points each

🔹71 Tests to be played across 27 series

🔹Three series each to be played home and away

[2/6]

A Test win in a series accounts for

2-Test series: 60 points
3-Test series: 40 points
4-Test series: 30 points
5-Test series: 24 points

[3/6]

Tests to be played by each side in Championship cycle

22 England
19 Australia
18 India
16 South Africa
14 Bangladesh/ West Indies
13 New Zealand/ Pakistan/ Sri Lanka

[4/6]

Here's a distribution of the series to be played by each team in terms of length of the series.

[5/6]

A team can achieve a maximum of 720 points if they win all their matches.

For England to do so, they need to win 22 Tests while each of New Zealand, Pakistan & Sri Lanka reach the same tally of points by winning just 13 Tests - nine fewer than England.

[6/6]

England will plan an away series in Sri Lanka in 2020 (2 Tests) and India in 2021 (5 Tests).

They will gain 120 points for a 2-0 win over Sri Lanka and to equal it they need to beat India 5-0, a largely improbable task.