Cricket is more dependent on the playing arena than almost any other sports, which alters the odds in the favour of the host side, who are in charge of preparing the pitch. Of course, there are other factors like familiarity of the conditions and fan support, but they hold true in other sports as well. The importance of the pitch is predictably more pronounced in Test cricket, the longest format of the sport.

While the WTC has done its bit towards reigniting a general interest towards Test cricket, particularly towards neutral matches, there is always scope for improvement. Away wins, for example, could be rewarded more than the home wins – something the current system does not do.

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We tried two bonus points systems keeping everything else intact. In the first, we rewarded two additional points for an win, and one for a tie or a draw away from home – in other words, 12, 6, 4 for home, 14, 8, 6 for away. In the second, we rewarded twice the points – 24, 12, 8 for overseas matches.

As we saw, according to the first system, New Zealand and England switched positions, but their points remained comparable. As per the second, New Zealand had a big leap to fourth place. However, the positions of most teams remained largely unaffected, at least until the end of the South Africa-Sri Lanka series.

Have away wins stopped mattering?

The TL;DR answer: yes for the 2023-25 cycle, but too early for a more general answer.

We have seen how 2024 has been the greatest year for touring teams in the history of Test cricket. Test cricket is not done with the year yet, but touring sides have already won 21 Tests out of 47. That is two wins clear of any other year. Only two years (2004, with 19, and 2021, with 18) have exceeded the 16-count.

To understand why, it is important to note the other significant feature of 2024, the number of draws – one, that too a rain-affected match at Port of Spain between the West Indies and South Africa. With a 20-Test cut-off, no other year has had fewer than three draws. And the only other year with exactly three draws was 2020, when Covid-19 restricted the Test cricket calendar to 22 matches.

Read more: Explained: Why India moved away from Shardul Thakur in overseas Tests

The WTC points system does not like the draw. A team gets 12 for a win and four for a draw, which makes the latter significantly closer to a defeat. Host teams, thus, have no qualms in risking defeats while going for wins, and pitches have become more decision-oriented and bowler-friendly. A wicket has fallen every 48 balls in 2024. With a 15-Test cut-off, the next best is 55, in 2018.

This has reduced the gap between home bowlers and their touring counterparts. Home teams have still won 25 Tests (and lost 21), but away teams have had their greatest year in history. If year-level data does not convince you, the sheer number of “first ever” and “first time since”s in the list of away wins in 2024 is mind-boggling.

Mark Taylor is not pleased with Mohammed Siraj's tendency to celebrappeal, calling it "disrespectful".

But more serious for Siraj is the threat of sanctions for it in ICC's Code of Conduct 😲

READ: https://t.co/Wnvhi1qdb5 pic.twitter.com/aHbnR9mYwB

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 10, 2024

The other factor

It is not about the count alone. At their pomp, the West Indies of the late 20th century and Australia of the 2000s used to win virtually everything, home and away. The WTC 2023-25 counts do not have a monopoly.

Scroll up to the points table, and you will notice that the teams ranked third to ninth have all won at least one overseas Test match against a side above them on the table. Second-placed Australia are not touring South Africa this cycle, but have a 4-2 away record in the 2023-25 cycle. South Africa, currently at the top, have 3-2 – but that includes a quasi-forfeiture when they chose to send a second-string side to New Zealand.

What is this all about?

Two (probably related) things. One, for all its faults, the WTC has a robust points system that passes the away-performance test. And two, Test cricket might have a many reasons to worry, but in 2024, it has been more competitive than it had been at any point in history.

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