After a riveting three-Test series between India and South Africa kept cricket fans of the two nations enthralled, talking about the survival of the longer format may sound a bit too alarmist. However, one cannot blind oneself to the fact that those very stadiums in South Africa which were not drawing too many people, are now overflowing with crowds in the ongoing T20 matches between the two nations.It seems that the build up to the Indian Premier League — now arguably the biggest cricketing event of the year — has begun in earnest, with Australians making a record score in T20s by averaging more than 12 an over in their innings.
That the threat is more real than imagined — as some experts would like us to believe — can be gauged from what England coach Trevor Bayliss had to say after his team’s loss to New Zealand. His opinion was that bilateral T20Is shouldn’t be played, as they place an excessive load on players, bringing with them a threat of burnout. His plea to leave Test cricket alone and not mix it with T20 matches when two nations play each other will have many takers. But not sponsors and television channels, who invest so much money in the game.
Cricket’s problem is that unlike football, the rules and duration of matches change across its three formats, and hence it is not possible to follow an inter-club tournament model. It is obvious that to accommodate all these three formats in equal measure is an impossibility, and that the administrators will have to make a choice and choose wisely.
Going by the wisdom of purists and even from players’ perspective, Test cricket should be given primacy over the other two. Unfortunately, since sport is dictated by profits, it is increasingly becoming apparent that sponsors and even the public at large prefer the shorter format over the longer one.
While the England coach may feel that eliminating bilateral T20 matches may preserve Test cricket, there are more voices from players who feel that this is a dying format. English all-rounder Moeen Ali felt so discouraged by the crowd response in the recently concluded Ashes series, that he too fears for its survival. Maverick cricketer Kevin Pietersen gives Tests no more than 5 years and believes that only the Ashes, and India-Pakistan and South Africa-England Test engagements will survive in future.
I will add to this an India-Australia series as well. The worrying aspect for followers of Tests is that if this prediction comes true, only four nations will be left playing Test cricket, as no one is sure about when and where India will play Pakistan in the future.
Giving a massive push to T20s has been the IPL, which has made it so lucrative for the players that most of them would prefer to skip Tests, given a choice between the two. Almost every country has a T20 league now, latest addition being Canada, which too has announced a league that is bound to attract some of the top players of the world.
The term ‘cricket mercenaries’ is getting wider currency now, and many more players are likely to follow Chris Gayle’s model and play for the highest bidder across the cricketing globe.All this puts the onus on the administrators, especially in India, to guide the cricketing world towards a future that does not convert Test cricket into a relic.
Sad to say, Indian administrators are not known to put the game’s wellbeing above its commercial value, or even balance these two competing interests.At the moment, the Indian board and the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators are involved in a never-ending battle that is now becoming too tiresome to keep track of.The month of April will herald another IPL season, and its success will be another cruel reminder that Test cricket could be on its last legs.