@allan

They should be playing But at a lower Tier. ICC should do the obvious and institute a 2nd Tier comprising the
bottom six or 5 Test teams. WI needs to rebuild their cricket and would be well suited to this level at this time.
The Big three India,OZ and England along with New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan and or Sri Lanka should be in Tier One.
Of course there should be promotion and relegation with the bottom team in Tier One demoted to Tier Two and the winning country in Tier Two elevated to the top Tier after each cycle.
Maybe to get this started,an exception could be made to ensure the Big Three remain in Top Tier for a few cycles at the outset ,even if one should finish at the bottom .
I think this is one of if not the main sticking point that prevents the reality of the 2Tier system as none of the Big Three will entertain such a prospect of relegation.
So a compromise could be entertained as the Big Three is where Test Cricket is surviving
very well.

This will further kill our cricket due to ‘champion level” finances vs the premier league or tier 1.
Which in my mind isnt such a bad thing
It’s obvious our administrators dont know how to solve the issue now since 1995 and there tough love is needed

@allan

Tier Two at this point could be blessing .Could mean more Tests against their peers and often a foundation for the players to grow in an environment that is not now being provided by current standards with limited FC structure and such.. Maybe Tests will be of minimum of 3 per series or even of 4 Days duration.

That would be a preparation for moving up the ladder .

The current players need a platform for growth and development and an incentive to improve and develop to higher standards.

Being brutalized by much better teams at present is not being helpful to the cause of better cricket.

I would be more interested in watching them at the lower level at this stage as currently I have a distaste for pitiful returns and performance and am gradually gravitating to watching other sports more than cricket.

@allan

You do have a point there. 

West Indies should arrange more test series against Bangladesh and Srilanka to get used to subcontinent pitches. NZ is one team that play awful lot of games against lower ranked sides and gain out of it. THey became better players of spin by playing against these sides and used against India. Not to mention they also play in IPL.

@allan

I agree. They should forfeit the rest of this test cycle and concentrate on playing ODIs and A tours (using the full strength WI side as an A Team) to build skill level and confidence. We are truly an embarrassment to international cricket now.

Unless the ICC is willing to bankroll the the Teams in the lower tiers, who is going to pay to broadcast these games?