TIRED, SLOW GAME DIES LONELY DEATH
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pots. But white-ball cricket has grown at such a remarkable rate, and become so popular with live crowds and global television audiences, it is superceding Test cricket as the staple diet of modern-day stars.
England duo Adil Rashid and Alex Hales are in their prime but have no intention of messing about with Test cricket.
The shorter form of the game is now their bread and butter.
Who can blame them? Who in their right mind would reject the chance to earn bigger wages for less work?
T20 cricket is fast, furious and fun. The game engages the crowd, while Test and county cricket sends people to sleep.
In the recent Tri-Series in New Zealand, fans who took a catch in the crowd could win themselves £50,000.
All that pensioners traipsing to a county game at Headingley or Edgbaston are likely to catch is a cold.
While the growth of white-ball cricket should be embraced, the rulers of the game have to accept it will come at a cost.
Greatest
The romance of first-class cricket is being killed by the razzmatazz of something far more exciting, railroading future generations down one particular route.
The greatest players we ever produced all learned their trade in first-class cricket and the same rule has applied in Australia, India, South Africa and Pakistan. This is where legends were educated in the basic skills of the sport as the foundations for their futures were laid.
Youngsters coming through now will take a different view, however, and focus on the form of the game that will make them the most money, turning their back on the ‘Holy Grail’ of their chosen profession.
Earlier this month the ECB announced the Test venues for the 2023 series against Australia.
The Ashes remains the one Test series people of all ages still care about. But this winter’s instalment Down Under wasn’t even competitive.
So the equation is simple. Unless the ECB can make red-ball cricket more attractive, and sustainable, then it will be hit for six and the Aussies needn’t bother even getting on the plane.