The West Indies cricket chief, Johnny Grave, wants the boards of India, England and Australia to do more to save Test cricket. South Africa and the West Indies, have not sent their strongest teams to tour New Zealand and Australia. West Indies have 7 uncapped players in their squad to Australia whereas South Africa has made a wholesale change in their squad to New Zealand. West Indies, it can be understood because even their first choice eleven, will not be able to compete against Australia in Australia. Especially, when they are in super form. The West Indian selectors cannot be accused of picking a second-string team because they may well be the first choice team given the performances of the so-called first-choice team.

In the case of South Africa, it is completely different because not only do they risk losing valuable WTC points but they also risk losing their first-ever series to New Zealand. That is a legacy that the South African board is not interested in preserving. They cannot be faulted either because every board will have to pay the players and the various stakeholders involved in the game. As such, the South African board is starved of cash when they finally struck gold with the SA20. They had to sacrifice something and they decided to sacrifice Test cricket this time. It could be another series next time around. One can understand the plight of not only South Africa and West Indies but of every other board who struggles to make ends meet.

One thing is sure. Test cricket as we know it today, is on the way out. With the onslaught of various leagues around the world, some of them allowing as much as 9 foreign players, it is just a question of time.

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.

Johnny Graves and his insights

Having said that, let us see what Graves has to say. It must be read. There are lots of insights into what he said and what he hasn’t said. Steve Waugh told Sydney Morning Herald that the ICC or someone must intervene and stop boards from picking second-string teams. When I read the article, I was flabbergasted to know that the West Indies were not paid anything for agreeing to send their team all the way to Australia. Graves is right when he says that they spend a fortune on sending players to Australia.

“As an example of this is that CWI has spent over 2 million dollars sending teams to Australia in the last four months and whilst CA have received all the economic benefits from those series, we’ve seen zero dollars back. Is that really fair, reasonable and sustainable?”

“We’ve got a Test team there, an ODI team and a T20I team, which will cost us another million-plus dollars in terms of match fees and airfares. We spend more on airfares than anyone else in the world.” Graves said.

I was always under the impression that the host nation and the opposition board share the money from the tour, if not equally, atleast proportionally. However, Graves revelation must be looked at seriously. Is it because it is the West Indies board and powerful boards like Australia feels that they can be bounced around, that they are not paid? Or is this the way bilateral series works? I do not have an answer for that.

Not discouraging anyone

In the same interview, Graves also admits that the West Indies board will not stop anyone from playing in any leagues across the world. He is quite candid about it because he does not really have a choice. If their players want to earn their wares somewhere else, so be it. The board does not have the means to increase the salary of the players. Hence, they cannot make them stay in the Caribbean.

Wrapping up West Indies cricket chief Grave

It is hard to be chief of a board that does not know from where their revenue is going to come. A start has to be made by every board to share the revenue from the bilateral series. Wealthier boards like India, Australia and England could afford to share a bit more than equally. This may not prevent Test cricket’s ultimate demise but will help in prolonging its life.

Other blogs about West Indies

https://icricketcritique.com/the-rise-of-the-west-indian-empire/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-fall-of-the-west-indian-empire/

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The Indian cricket pitches

Whenever, a side from one of England, Australia, New Zealand comes to India, the one talking point is about the pitches. There will be lot of editorials on their newspapers stating that a minefield is awaiting their teams during their visit. Every pitch in any Test series will be doctored to suit the Indian spinners or to stump the visitors because of their lack of ability against spin. However, none of them thinks about the poor technique displayed by the visitors against spin. Not the perfect one but a better technique would have ensured that they prevail. Having said that, the Indian cricket pitches will probably have to change. Defeating India in India is one of the most toughest in the cricketing world. Defeating Australia and defeating South Africa are the other tough propositions. I have not included England or New Zealand because both the teams have lost rather a few games more than that is allowed. Over the last 23 years, India have lost less than 10 Tests at home with only 2 series losses. That is an incredible record to boast about. The sheer dominance at home is something no other team could achieve. Accusation against the team Despite that, the talk invariably turns to the pitches. There were lot of accusations on the Indian team that they will not be able to win so many games if the pitches weren’t so spin friendly. A few years ago, in 2015, against South Africa, both the teams, India and South Africa were unable to cross 300 once because the pitches turned square from ball one. The Nagpur pitch for the 3rd Test was rated poor. It left Kohli fuming. “Well, there have been three scores of under 50 runs in South Africa but I haven’t seen any sort of articles on that. Teams have been bundled out under 100 for about six times in South Africa,” he said. “The situation in our country is highlighted a bit too much and that’s a fact. Because the only thing we talk about is the pitch and when we were in South Africa, the only thing we talked about was how badly we played. We are criticised for our techniques but when visitors don’t play well, it’s always the wicket.” It is true what Kohli had said. There are lot of games in Australia and South Africa that have not exceeded 3 days. Especially, in South Africa, the pitches are overly favourable to the fast bowlers. Since South Africa can churn out them by the dozen, they have always prepared pitches that has incredible pace and bounce. They have always maximised the home advantage and particularly against the Asian nations. WTC Points system is another reason Likewise, India is also justified in preparing pitches that does not suit the opposing batsmen. Here I say the opponent’s batsmen is because even the Indians are not that good against spinners any longer. Just look at the number of games the Indians were tied down by spinners in white ball cricket that has prevented them from scoring huge runs or chase down one. The situation is not that better in Tests either. Nowadays, spinning pitches are prepared not because it is comfortable for India but because it is uncomfortable for the opponents. One other factor that warrants results oriented pitches is the WTC points system. It awards 12 points for a win and only 4 for a draw. It places great importance in playing attacking aggressive brand of cricket. WTC points is a significant motivator. Teams need wins to be in contention to play the final. Where does the chances for winning most of the games lie? It is at home where you know the conditions and you know how the pitches will behave. Hence, the need to prepare pitches where you give your team the maximum chance to win. “There is a huge premium on results,” Dravid said before the fourth Test. “You draw a game like Kanpur against New Zealand, where you take nine wickets in the second innings, you draw that game and that sets you back, in a home game. “Every team is getting results at home or are putting in really good performances at home, so there is a premium on results. You get four points for a draw and you get 12 for a win, so there is a premium on that, there’s no question about it.” It is time to return The downside of all this is that the averages and the performances of the batsmen have dropped drastically and the spinners are having inflated strike rates and averages. One will only have to compare the statistics of both Ashwin and Jadeja with their away record. It will clearly establish the fact that these two spinners, ofcourse they are good, are not as great as they are made out to be. Perhaps, the time has come to return to the more batting pitches that helped the Indian batsmen outscore their opponents. The spinners will have to really use their guile and intelligence to pick up wickets rather than just drop the ball and leave the rest to the pitches. There was a period, against England in 2017, where both the teams amassed runs and yet, India won handsomely 4-0. Ashwin & Jadeja still emerged as the highest wicket takers but they had to move out of their comfort zone. The Indian fast bowlers too had long bowling sessions. This was in stark contrast to how Bumrah asked to be left out of the squad in 2020 against England because he hardly had to bowl. Wrapping up the Indian cricket pitches The problem is not the turn but the dust that comes out of the pitch everytime there is an activity. Sri Lankan pitches have also turned but the soil does not come out. India have had similar pitches and it is time to return to that. 2 and 3 day games will kill the game. Let the batsmen be able to bat confidently. For inspiration, India will only have to think about the pitches against England in 2017.

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