It would be blasphemous to say that Test cricket is on the way out. The pundits and the purists will scorn such a thought. Come what may, Test cricket must survive against all the odds, they would say. However, they are blinded by their passion for Test cricket. A format that has survived for more than 100 years is suddenly facing an existential crisis. I for one would want to see Test cricket not only survive but thrive in the long run. Well into the 21st century but the signs are not that great any longer. Just look at the crowds in most of the Test playing nations for you to realise that it is hard to sustain Test cricket. It is a dead giveaway that the fans no longer want to watch Test cricket.
Worse still is the South African squad for the 2 Test series in New Zealand. They know fully well that these 2 Tests are part of the WTC schedule and them qualifying depends largely on these games. Yet, the South African board did not care about selecting a sub-standard team for the two Tests. The board preferred SA20 over the WTC every top South African cricketer expected to be part of the SA20 rather than the New Zealand bound squad.
Australian newspaper calls it a joke
One Australian newspaper, is not happy that South Africa’s C team will be travelling to New Zealand. As a matter of fact, it is South Africa’s C team. The captain, Neil Brand has not played international cricket. It is an irony that he will be captaining the team in New Zealand who themselves have a history of appointing a greenhorn in Lee Germon as the captain all those years ago.
Nevertheless, the coach, Conrad is adamant that the players will be competitive enough.
“The players selected for this tour have every chance of challenging New Zealand,” said Conrad, who pointed out that most of the players had shown their ability while playing for South Africa A in recent series against West Indies A and India A.
It would be wrong to blame the South African board either because they are a cash-strapped board in need of a fresh infusion of money. SA20 attracts a good crowd which will help the board in paying bills but it has come at the cost of Test cricket. Throughout the current WTC cycle, South Africa will only play 2 Test series which clearly shows where their loyalty lies at the moment. Again, nothing to find fault with the board which has the responsibility of not only honouring their commitment to their players but also to the franchises who have pumped money into the SA20 league. Well, all of them are IPL franchises anyway.
Failure of the administrators
Cricket statistician Mazher Arshad is right. “any country, outside of the Big Three, who is not prioritising T20 cricket is shooting itself in the foot”. Test cricket lost its lustre outside of the Big Three a longtime ago. It is the failure on the part of the administrators to not realise this. Ever since the introduction of T20 cricket, it was just a question of time when Test cricket would lose its priority. Only the top boards will be able to afford Tests. England and Australia have their lucrative TV deals and gate receipts, not to mention the more than a century old rivalry to run the show and India has an enormous fan base that ensures that Test cricket is atleast followed on various internet portals.
Cricket is the most time-consuming sport of all. Test cricket is the pinnacle of that. In the changing pattern, it simply is not going to survive. People are interested in instant thrill and entertainment which T20 provides. Every board now gives priority to T20 cricket through their various leagues. Infact, ICC themselves have given the IPL a 3-month window where no international cricket is played. The ICC itself is guilty of devaluing Test Cricket.
The time to shorten is here
Test cricket is desperate for reduced time. 5 days has become too lengthy. The time has come for it to be reduced to 4 days and even that is stretching it a bit. It is time the administrators realise that the format is in the ICU. They will have to stop spreading the game to multiple frontiers because again that will make people lose interest. You do not want to see India against Bahamas or Australia against Papua New Guinea. If in the distant future, these nations are given Test status, just imagine how competitive will it be. It has been close to 30 days and yet, Bangladesh is not Test standard. If the administrators do not listen, it must be done by design.
Wrapping up Test cricket is on the way out
There is no denying the fact that Test cricket is on the way out. The administrators have created a Frankenstein in T20 that will ensure that it will not only gobble up Test cricket but also ODI cricket. Preparing pitches that suit the bowlers, shortening the duration by a minimum of 1 day will help in delaying the demise of Test cricket but it will not prevent it. I can see that 25 years down the line, Test cricket will be played only between India, England and Australia. That will be a tragedy. Other boards simply do not have the means to sustain the loss making format.