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Andrew Flintoff, Chris Gayle and Andrew Symonds all have different reasons for forsaking Test cricket. However, the common denominator is money.
I have just returned from a quick trip to India and my worst fears have been realised.
Test Cricket in the sub continent is dead and the haste to bury it is both depressing and alarming. India has been utterly and irrevocably seduced by Twenty/20 and the love affair is no one night fling.
Cricket administrators, including Cricket Australia, seem powerless to stem the tide.
The TV rights for the Champions League Twenty/20 were in excess of 1 billion dollars and all participating boards will share in revenues between 8 and 15 million dollars a year for the duration of the contract.
The rush to sign overseas stars by Australian State sides all points to Twenty/20 being a bigger part of the Australian cricketing landscape.
The ECB is pushing ahead with its own Super Pro Twenty/20. Television Broadcasters are demanding Twenty/20 be played in prime time television.
This is the major reason for the push for Day/Night cricket.
These sentiments are not the ravings of a disillusioned cricket traditionalist. It is the lament of a realist seeing the basic fabric of the game being ripped apart by administrators who have been wined and dined too often.
The MCC seems the lone voice of reason and has once again implored administrators to organise a Test Championship. This was high on the agenda of Cricket Australia until it was jettisioned by the BCCI and consigned to cricket’s back burner.
The current Ashes series in England is sold out and it may well be the last time that Test Cricket evokes such interest.
Andrew Flintoff stated this week he is retiring from Test Cricket as his body cannot take the strain anymore. This was the same refrain from Adam Gilchrist two years ago.
They have both espoused the view that Test Cricket is the ultimate form of the game for them. Yet, the alacrity with which they have abandoned Test cricket leads me to label them as hypocrites.
I expect to see these players playing all year around in the various Twenty/20 leagues in India, Australia, South Africa and England.
The sad part is that these players are not exactly penurious.
There is concern among former cricketers like Ian Chappell and lately, Sunil Gavaskar, that administrators need to strike the right balance. Twenty/20 appeals to the vast majority of Indians who see the abbreviated form as a neat fit with their pressured lives.
The Indians are passionate about their cricket and it dominates their psyche.
Test Cricket on the subcontinent has to be promoted as relevant in an ever-changing world. Midweek Tests will not work.
Day/Night Cricket in India is an absolute imperative if Test Cricket is to survive.
The quality of the competition is also paramount. The viewers will not watch Bangladesh or the West Indies. The Championship of Test Cricket limited to the top six countries will appeal.
The administrators have a choice. Be innovative and change. Or just accept the money and lose the tradition. If this were to happen, it would be an insult to the memory of those that went before.
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