India, England and Australia rule the roost as we know it and the status quo is likely to stay that way even though the Windies pulled off a rare and remarkable away Test victory over England, writes Alasdair Fraser.

Let’s not take the gloss off this win for West Indies but England were missing their skipper Joe Root, and more importantly, the mercurial bowling talents of one Stuart Broad.

Root had a genuine excuse as he was unavailable due to the birth of his second child but there is no excuse for Broad’s omission for the first Test, which West Indies emphatically won at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

In my opinion Broad not playing is disrespectful to the Windies and the best way to reply to that was to emphatically beat England in their very own backyard and put one hand on that Wisden Trophy, which they will retain should the series be shared.

There have been a few false dawns, but Windies cricket is on the rise in the Test arena and that is very good for the game. What is not good for the game is the tri-partite alliance hegemony that is ensuring the game is ruled by India, England and Australia.

This came to mind after a graphic came up during the rain-interrupted first day of the Test. It was a pace bowling stat of all the Test teams to date since January 2018. It is a remarkable stat in its own right:

India (24 Matches, 292 Wickets, 21.33 Average)
West Indies (15 Matches, 177 Wickets, 21.33 Average)
South Africa (21 Matches, 278 Wickets, 21.78 Average)
Australia (23 Matches, 285 Wickets, 25.45 Average)
New Zealand (18 Matches, 246 Wickets, 26.02 Average)
Pakistan (16 Matches, 160 Wickets, 26.77 Average)     
England (28 Matches, 332 Wickets, 26.78 Average)
Sri Lanka (22 Matches, 148 Wickets, 32.20 Average)
Bangladesh (15 Matches, 48 Wickets, 50.06 Average)

The stats make for interesting reading and illustrates the Windies progress and that their historic fast-bowling strength is on the up. While India’s supremacy in the Test arena is down to an unusual upward trend of quality fast bowlers – something which has not been their strength historically.

But the data that can be garnered from this list is the number of Tests played by the likes of Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, New Zealand and to a lesser extent, South Africa. 

Since January 2018, the Proteas have had the luxury of Test series against India, Australia and England to balloon their matches played column, while Sri Lanka often lock horns with India. But most glaringly is the same number of matches played by the Windies and Bangladesh.

The ‘Big Three’ enjoy the major share of revenue and will continue to do so. It needs to be shared equally and perhaps the current Test Championship might see that happen – although The Ashes and other series involving the Big Three might still see the likes of the West Indies continuing to play less Test matches.

So while cricket lovers should celebrate the return of the Windies of yesteryear, it remains to be seen whether the Big Three’s hegemony will effect a change that will secure equal financial benefits and a standardised number of Tests across the board for all Test nations. Otherwise, the Windies will continue to remain in Test cricket’s lower tier.   

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