
debut: 11/13/02
79,682 runs
READ THIS
When the ICC first approved the idea of a World Test Championship in 2010, Zimbabwe were supposed to be among the ten participating teams in the league when it kicked off three years later. However, it was postponed and only actually approved in 2017.
When the WTC was finally launched in 2019, only nine Full Members were included. Zimbabwe, as well as the latest Full Members, Afghanistan and Ireland (who were awarded that status in 2017) missed out. No specific reasons were given for their exclusion, but it was thought to be because both the latter two members were newly inducted and Zimbabwe had lost their way because of the political interference in their cricket in the 2000s.
When the WTC was finally launched in 2019, only nine Full Members were included. Zimbabwe, as well as the latest Full Members, Afghanistan and Ireland (who were awarded that status in 2017) missed out. No specific reasons were given for their exclusion, but it was thought to be because both the latter two members were newly inducted and Zimbabwe had lost their way because of the political interference in their cricket in the 2000s.
"For you to be a Full Member, you need to play all three formats. That's an eligibility criteria," Tavengwa Mukuhlani, Zimbabwe Cricket's chair, says, "So every member must have an equal and fair opportunity to play the three formats, without discrimination. The current set-up defeats the purpose of being a Test-playing Full Member."
Three cycles into the WTC, there still is no pathway for a new team to enter the championship. There is no system of promotion and relegation, or any other meritocratic provision to challenge the positions of the existing teams.