D/N Test: BCCI refusal shows lack of sight

of matches being played at a more appropriate time for fans to either attend or watch on TV, D/N Tests also conjure up intriguing possibilities.

Because of an often dramatic change in conditions, new strategies are likely to evolve for D/N Tests, particularly in relation to selection and batting orders. D/N Tests also provide greater opportunities for bowlers and cricket is a better game when the leather flingers are on an equal footing with the batsmen. And importantly, D/N Tests provide a challenge to a captain’s imagination and anything that achieves that aim is good for cricket.

D/N Tests also provide for the future possibility of four-day games, which could have more appeal among fans and media outlets. Adelaide has been the leading light in the push to give D/N Tests credibility and a match involving India would have done much to enhance that reputation. The BCCI’S decision is shortsighted at best and chock full of self-interest at worst.

As cricket flounders, trying to envisage a viable path forward, the debate often turns to the merit of separate teams for long and short forms of the game. Maybe it’s time to consider whether there should be separate administrative committees handling the long and short forms of the game. What IS needed and has been for a long time, is an independent body to administer the game on a global basis.

It’s no longer acceptable to have individual Boards, driven by self-interest, decide when and where matches will be played. The playing schedule has been overloaded and unworkable for many years and that won’t change while the current system is in place. However, the administrators aren’t about to vote themselves out of power and while the leading players are financially comfortable, they’re not going to start a revolution in search of a better system.