Test format in vital need of life support
TEST cricket is dead. Long live test cricket.
As the venerable five-day red ball game played in white clothing – still loved by many like a favourite elderly relative – drifts away gradually, New Zealand Cricket is among those striding to the International Cricket Council table with the oxygen mask.
Day-night tests. Four-day tests. And, most importantly, a meaningful test championship spread over two years where points from every match count, which the ICC will likely rubber stamp in October and could start in 2019.
NZC chief executive David White expected some of the negative reaction to the home schedule announcement which included just four tests – two each against West Indies and England – in 43 days of cricket, including 10 Twenty20 internationals.
Lopping a test off the West Indies December schedule wasn’t nearly as galling as England not playing a three-test series as they did in 2013 – even if that was signposted a year ago. A two-test, five-ODI combination just doesn’t look or feel right for a team who draw the biggest test crowds in New Zealand and played that epic Eden Park third test draw – yes, a memorable draw – four years ago. Five Ashes tests in Australia and a mammoth England schedule don’t help.
White played test cricket – twice – and says he’s as passionate about it as the next purist. But he doesn’t hold back on its current state, which drains the finances as most home matches run at a loss unless it’s crowdpullers England, Australia or India.
‘‘The challenge is, international broadcasters are telling us that the value of test cricket is diminishing. When I started in this job five years ago, if you gave a test match a three, an ODI a two and had T20 a distant third; it’s almost reversed now. If you look at the broadcast values of ICC events, World Cup and World T20, they’re growing exponentially and IPL and T20 leagues the values are growing significantly,’’ White said.
‘‘What we’re finding is test match cricket is flat at best and diminishing. The key to its future is providing it with context so people can follow it and it’s meaningful from a consumer’s point of view. We’ve always got to look at it from a fan’s viewpoint because they’re ultimately the people who fund it.’’ PHOTOSPORT
The test championship would mean a minimum four home tests per summer, and eight tests a year for the Black Caps. NZC is sweating on the outcome of an Auckland City Council resource consent hearing to rubber stamp the country’s first day-night test against England at Eden Park from March 22-26. Pink is the new red, but only in small doses and won’t become the norm. Yet.
‘ What we’re finding is test match cricket is flat at best and diminishing.’ NZ CRICKET BOSS DAVID WHITE