In the previous article, I laid the groundwork and justified the need to have a consistent, well-spread schedule for basing the ICC's Test Championship. In this article, I will put together such a schedule and call it the PWC, or the Perfect World Championship schedule.

To illustrate, I will base it on a 4-year cycle and assume 9 teams; India, Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England, South Africa & Team X (which represents Zimbabwe & Bangladesh). Having explained the basic principle of this 9-team format using Team X, I have expanded it to a 10-team format by replacing Team X by Bangladesh & Zimbabwe appropriately.

PWC Schedule - 9 teams

Season 1
Host	Visitor
Australia	Sri Lanka
Australia	India
England	Australia
England	West Indies
India	England
India	Team X
New Zealand	Sri Lanka
New Zealand	Team X
Pakistan	West Indies
Pakistan	India
South Africa	Pakistan
South Africa	New Zealand
Sri Lanka	South Africa
Sri Lanka	Pakistan
Team X	Australia
Team X	England
West Indies	New Zealand
West Indies

Season 2
Host	Visitor
Australia	New Zealand
Australia	Pakistan
England	Sri Lanka
England	South Africa
India	West Indies
India	New Zealand
New Zealand	England
New Zealand	Pakistan
Pakistan	Team X
Pakistan	England
South Africa	India
South Africa	Australia
Sri Lanka	India
Sri Lanka	Team X
Team X	West Indies
Team X	South Africa
West Indies	Australia
West Indies	Sri Lanka

Season 3
Host	Visitor
Australia	England
Australia	Team X
England	India
England	Team X
India	Pakistan
India	Australia
New Zealand	South Africa
New Zealand	West Indies
Pakistan	South Africa
Pakistan	Sri Lanka
South Africa	Sri Lanka
South Africa	West Indies
Sri Lanka	New Zealand
Sri Lanka	Australia
Team X	India
Team X	New Zealand
West Indies	England
West Indies	Pakistan

Season 4
Host	Visitor
Australia	South Africa
Australia	West Indies
England	Pakistan
England	New Zealand
India	South Africa
India	Sri Lanka
New Zealand	India
New Zealand	Australia
Pakistan	New Zealand
Pakistan	Australia
South Africa	England
South Africa	Team X
Sri Lanka	England
Sri Lanka	West Indies
Team X	Pakistan
Team X	Sri Lanka
West Indies	India
West Indies	Team X

The above 9-team PWC schedule is based on two simple principles:

1. All Teams play four Test-Series every season, two at home & two away.

2. Teams meet each other every alternate seasons, so if England hosts Australia in season 1, Australia will host England in season 3, etc.

I will now expand the above schedule to 10 teams without upsetting the above two principles for the eight named teams in the 9-team schedule.

According to the above format, the schedule for Team X reads as:

Season 1
Host	Visitor
India	Team X
New Zealand	Team X
Team X	Australia
Team X	England

Season 2
Host	Visitor
Pakistan	Team X
Sri Lanka	Team X
Team X	West Indies
Team X	South Africa

Season 3
Host	Visitor
Australia	Team X
England	Team X
Team X	India
Team X	New Zealand

Season 4
Host	Visitor
South Africa	Team X
Team X	Pakistan
Team X	Sri Lanka
West Indies	Team X

Now if we replace Team X by Zimbabwe & Bangladesh alternately in the above schedule, and add a series between Bangladesh & Zimbabwe every alternate season (say seasons 2 & 4), we get a new schedule that looks something like this:

Season 1
Host	Visitor
India	Zimbabwe
New Zealand	Bangladesh
Zimbabwe	Australia
Bangladesh	England

Season 2
Host	Visitor
Pakistan	Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka	Bangladesh
Zimbabwe	West Indies
Bangladesh	South Africa
Zimbabwe	Bangladesh

Season 3
Host	Visitor
Australia	Bangladesh
England	Zimbabwe
Bangladesh	India
Zimbabwe	New Zealand

Season 4
Host	Visitor
South Africa	Zimbabwe
Bangladesh	Pakistan
Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka
West Indies	Bangladesh
Bangladesh	Zimbabwe

With the above changes, the final 10-team PWC schedule will be as follows:

Complete PWC Schedule - 10 teams

Season 1
Host	Visitor
Australia	Sri Lanka
Australia	India
England	Australia
England	West Indies
India	England
India	Zimbabwe
New Zealand	Sri Lanka
New Zealand	Bangladesh
Pakistan	West Indies
Pakistan	India
South Africa	Pakistan
South Africa	New Zealand
Sri Lanka	South Africa
Sri Lanka	Pakistan
Zimbabwe	Australia
Bangladesh	England
West Indies	New Zealand
West Indies	South Africa

Season 2
Host	Visitor
Australia	New Zealand
Australia	Pakistan
England	Sri Lanka
England	South Africa
India	West Indies
India	New Zealand
New Zealand	England
New Zealand	Pakistan
Pakistan	Zimbabwe
Pakistan	England
South Africa	India
South Africa	Australia
Sri Lanka	India
Sri Lanka	Bangladesh
Zimbabwe	West Indies
Bangladesh	South Africa
West Indies	Australia
West Indies	Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe	Bangladesh

Season 3
Host	Visitor
Australia	England
Australia	Bangladesh
England	India
England	Zimbabwe
India	Pakistan
India	Australia
New Zealand	South Africa
New Zealand	West Indies
Pakistan	South Africa
Pakistan	Sri Lanka
South Africa	Sri Lanka
South Africa	West Indies
Sri Lanka	New Zealand
Sri Lanka	Australia
Bangladesh	India
Zimbabwe	New Zealand
West Indies	England
West Indies	Pakistan

Season 4
Host	Visitor
Australia	South Africa
Australia	West Indies
England	Pakistan
England	New Zealand
India	South Africa
India	Sri Lanka
New Zealand	India
New Zealand	Australia
Pakistan	New Zealand
Pakistan	Australia
South Africa	England
South Africa	Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka	England
Sri Lanka	West Indies
Bangladesh	Pakistan
Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka
West Indies	India
West Indies	Bangladesh
Bangladesh	Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe & Bangladesh play one home & one away series every season, against one of the eight teams. Hence, they will meet the other eight teams exactly once in a four-year cycle (either home or away). In addition, they will also play additional series in Seasons 2 & 4 against each other.

Great! I have put together a schedule that is different from the ICC's. But does it mean that it is any better? Also, is this not over-crowded schedule? And what about the traditional test series like the Ashes?

To be able to answers these questions, I have to compare the two schedules, which I will do in the next article. In the meanwhile, I will leave you with one question:

Isn't a schedule in which all the top eight test playing nations play 4 Test Series every season, 2 at home and 2 away, and meet each other every alternate season, a better way to determine a 'Champion', irrespective of the parameters used to determine the Champion?

The next article analyzes the differences between the current schedule as defined by the ICC and the proposed Perfect World Cup (PWC) schedule.

Part I: The ideal ICC Test Championship
Part II: The ICC's Championship: A Rating or a Championship

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Mail Saurabh Wahi