Raja wants window set aside for Tests

WHILE CROWDS FOR TESTS IN ENGLAND REMAIN STRONG, RAJA FEARS INTEREST IN ASIA IS “DWINDLING” THANKS TO DOMESTIC T20

LONDON : Former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja has urged the International Cricket Council to set aside a two-month window solely for Test matches in a bid to preserve the longest form of the game. While crowds for Tests in countries such as England remain strong, Raja, a member of the influential MCC world cricket committee, fears interest in Asia is “dwindling” thanks partly to the rise of lucrative domestic T20 competitions such as the IPL.

“I feel that the ICC has a decent plan in the shape of the World Test Championship,” said Raja after a committee meeting at Lord’s on Tuesday.

“There should be a window for that and everything else should stop for a period of two months so the best players are available to play Test cricket.” He added: “It’s got to get better. In Asia, for example, because of poor Test scheduling, the interest is dwindling. When you go back home you are never sure if you are going to have a one-Test series, a two-Test series or whether you are going to have a Test series at all.”

Raja said national governing bodies such as the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Pakistan Cricket Board had to play their part as well. “You have to acknowledge and respect the status of Test match cricket and it has to come from the cricket boards, in Asia specifically.”