#360debate: Is Test cricket dying?

Test cricket in England and Australia is in very good condition. There can’t be much debate over it. Venues there are generally full and games like the Lord’s Test in England and the Boxing Day and New Year Tests Down Under have become an part of the calendar of fans.

Irrespective of how significant these Test centres are, the health of the game in other parts of the world is not good. Attendance for the five-day game in the subcontinent has fallen drastically. Venues like Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai don’t see packed houses for Test matches anymore and the situation is no different in Sri Lanka.

South Africa and West Indies seldom see decent crowd numbers for Tests and it is a fact acknowledges by administrators all over the globe. The very fact that there is an attempt to create a two-tier system for Tests proves that there is something wrong which the game’s administrators are trying to rectify.

“If we’re going to keep Test cricket going well into the future, we can’t just say it’s going to survive on its own,” ICC chief executive David Richardson said.

Then we have day-night Tests.

It is an excellent attempt to bring the crowds back to the grounds and increase TV viewership. There is no doubt that T20 cricket is being promoted all across the world and even the ICC is keen to cash in on the success of the World T20.

The situation now is that T20 is being seen as a saviour for Tests, allowing boards to sustain the five-day format which is not financially lucrative in many territories. There is a concerted effort to bring changes to Test cricket, be it the structure or timing.

While it points to how much those in charge want the format to survive and also flourish, it can’t be denied this is a medical procedure being conducted on an ailing patient. Test cricket as we have known and loved can’t possibly live on in it’s earlier avatar.

A new form will emerge which will hopefully mesmerise fans all over again. But the Test cricket of old is dying.

Barny Read, Online Deputy Editor, says NO

Test cricket is dead. The eulogies have already been written and the sport is currently meandering along in a state of perpetual wake.  Players may as well trade in their whites for all-black attire.

At least, that’s what you might believe if you listen to many observers of the game, sold on the popcorn cricket of Twenty20 that can guarantee instant financial return and is successful because “people can’t watch five days of cricket”.

But cast those eyes over to Lord’s for the first Test between England and Pakistan and it is clear that this is no time for mourning.

The ground swell can be felt at the moment of arrival at St. John’s Wood station, and on the short walk that followed to the Home of Cricket.

By the time Misbah-ul-Haq had won the toss on Thursday and elected to bat, Lord’s was at near full capacity. It has remained like that every day since.

The new Warner Stand has been catering to spectators for the first time over to the west of the ground, fans taking up tickets in high numbers to be the first perched in those seats with the new construction 99 percent full.

It seems the death knell for Test cricket will, temporarily at least, be silenced.

England and Australia are special cases, though, it must be said.

Both Ashes countries sell out stadia whenever international cricket is played on their shores, while the likes of the West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh regularly struggle to get rear ends on seats.

But it is not all doom and gloom and the majority of those countries concerned about two-tier Test cricket need to seriously rethink their opposition.

Quite often it seems that the weaker Test playing nations fail to draw crowds, but who seriously wants to get their cricket kicks from convincing wins and losses?

That England and Pakistan have played out such enthralling, topsy-turvy Test cricket shows the benefit of pairing up more evenly matched teams.

But even the ECB suffered this summer with some days of Tests against Sri Lanka failing to attract fans in their droves due to the very obvious gulf in class between the two sides.

What should be pushed to the fore is the prospect of competitive cricket contested by teams of more even ability, while also promoting Associate Nations up the ladder and chucking in genuine consequences to matches in the form of promotion and relegation.

The most vociferous argument in favour of the Remain camp of ICC countries (Brexit is still dominating news here) is that they will miss out on revenue from hosting the ‘Big Three’.

That has been rubbished though, with teams able to schedule series outside of the current structure and a new potential revenue share model being discussed by the game’s governing body.

Therein lies the problem – the powers-that-be are currently plodding down the road as if following the slipstream of a hearse.  That road is slow, depressing and it hurts.

They have at least explored day/night Tests, which were a resounding success in terms of gates when Australia took on New Zealand in the first sojourns last year.

It is an initiative that will very much be pushed going forward, and should be, but it is certainly not at any stage of completion. That something so radical even exists is incredible considering cricket’s reluctance to change – it is a sport immersed in its traditions.

For those traditionalists, there are ways to remain loyal to cricket’s long history without smashing down its foundations. Day/night Tests are great but the focus should be on creating an even playing field for Tests.

It is now up to the sport’s custodians to secure its future. Make no mistake, Test cricket is not yet dead.