“Cricket in Crisis” screamed the headline in Sydney’s The Sun-Herald yesterday; practically “dying” among the 14-18 year age-group and females, according to the blood-curdling expose.
Going by interest shown by cricket-lovers at the Australian Cricket Society’s function in Sydney last Thursday, the reports on cricket’s death are highly exaggerated.
What strikes me as incredible and odious is that Cricket Australia is considering promoting Twenty20 bash rather than Sheffield Shield by having IPL-like franchises from overseas. It is equivalent to killing the grass roots and importing cut flowers.
It’s like banks printing money to avoid recession. It’s like parents offering lollies to their children to do their homework.
Four Australian legends – elegant left-handed strokeplayer Neil Harvey, all-rounders Alan Davidson and Bob Simpson and opening batsman Colin McDonald – remembered last week the 1960 Brisbane tied Test. It was a glittering get-together to mark the Golden Jubilee of Test cricket’s first tied Test.
Also joining the Panel were fast-medium bowlers Frank Misson and Des Hoare, who had played in subsequent Tests in this electrifying series. It was a night of nostalgia lasting almost two hours.
And not a single yawn, let alone tears, to suggest the demise of cricket!
Harvey summed up the feelings of those present by saying among thundering applause, “Hope one-day internationals and Twenty20 cricket do not affect Test cricket.”
What struck me was the photographic memory of the cricketing greats, two of them (Harvey and Davidson) being in their eighties. They recalled each ball of the tied Test as if it was five days ago and not 50 years ago. Experienced interviewer and founder of the Cricket Society, Ronald Cardwell, brought the best out of them with probing questions.
In that 1960 Brisbane epic Davidson became the first batsman to achieve the double of 100 runs (44 and 80) and 10 wickets (11-222).
He recalled, “Just before the Test I had broken the top joint of my bowling finger and had to pass the medical. I had bowled with a broken finger throughout the match and still took 11 wickets. After the Test Sir Donald [Bradman] remarked tongue-in-cheek, ‘Can you break your finger before every Test, Alan?’”
This was more than just an exciting Test, the players agreed.
“After the series we just sat dazed at first and then chatted, the camaraderie between the rivals was amazing”, mused Davidson. “I am still in touch with some of the West Indies cricketers who played in that Test series.”
Simpson opined that West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin bowled doosras decades before the term was invented.
Comparing modern cricket and matches in his time, McDonald quipped, “We did not carry on like current players. We were just as keen but didn’t celebrate like now.”
All were of the opinion that Frank Worrell and Richie Benaud were terrific leaders, Garry Sobers was a sublime batsman and a four-in-one bowler and Wes Hall the best fast bowler they faced.
“I found England’s Frank Tyson a touch faster but Hall was the best fast bowler I faced”, commented McDonald.
I asked Harvey after the function, “How come in your time 100 eight-ball overs were bowled in a day? Now we need extra time to finish 90 six-ball overs per day?”
“Captains take too long to set fields these days”, he replied. “Also bowlers have exaggerated run-ups. In the 1948 Leeds Test against England as many as 128 six-ball overs were bowled on one day. Both captains did their bit to speed up the game. It takes two to tango.”
Davidson recalled, “In the 1959 Kanpur Test against India, I bowled 53.5 overs in one day.”
The most important person missing at the function was Richie Benaud as he had another commitment that night. He had captained that 1960-61 series against the Windies with a cool head and matched Worrell ball by ball in reviving Test cricket.
We need the likes of Benaud, the late Frank Worrell, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Sachin Tendulkar … to resurrect Test cricket today. And not a surfeit of Twenty20 bashes to fill up the coffers of Cricket Associations around the world.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
The wave of nostalgia continues unabated. This is what I received from Cricket Australia: Some of Australia’s greatest cricketing legends - including Richie Benaud and Neil Harvey – were reunited at a special charity event onboard P&O Cruises UK’s Oriana in Sydney today to reminisce about an era when the world’s top players spent months travelling to their Test Matches by sea. The players were all members of the 1961 test team - the last Australian cricket team to cruise on a P&O ship to the UK for a Test Series, before the introduction of mass air travel saw players start to fly to their games. Today, 10 members of the 1961 team – Captain Richie Benaud, Vice Captain Neil Harvey, Bob Simpson, Alan Davidson, Brian Booth, Frank Misson, Colin McDonald, Graham McKenzie, Barry Jarman and Lindsay Kline – shared their memories about their travelling days at a lunch onboard Oriana, supporting the charity Movember. Almost 50 years after their Australia-UK voyage, the players tried the superliner’s cricket nets on her top decks and posed for a photo beneath a 20 metre-wide moustache, worn by the ship in honour of Movember. Movember is an official charity partner of Cricket Australia, raising funds and awareness for men’s health. Legendary moustache wearer, former International and Movember Ambassador Max “Tangles” Walker was also in attendance at the charity event, with former Australian Test Captain Mark Taylor acting as MC.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Tim,you are right a lot of administrators pay lip service. Now ,Haroon Lorgat is passionate about Test cricket but in the end he is hamstrung and unless ALL the boards are singing from the same songsheet there will be muddied thinking.At the moment it is every man for himself. They are all focussed on milking the Twenty20. Cricket has three forms to sell and is luckier than most sports. But luck without brains is dangerous.
Tim
Guest
I think we in cricket worldwide need to promote test cricket and in doing so answer the usual question of 'who has time to watch for five days?' But that is not the point. Nobody except a few media people and some (!) of the players watch every ball. The beauty of test cricket is that you drop in and out of it, even when you are in the ground. You may as well say, 'who has time to watch the Olympics or Wimbledon?' Or 'who can read all of a newspaper or news website?' Cricket needs to remind us of the uniqueness of the long version of the game and ensure that all three forms feed off each other and that we don't head for a split like in Rugby League/Union :) Sometimes though, I wonder if certain ICC administrators are behind the Test game or if they see it as an annoyance to be sustained - for the moment.
Bayman
Guest
Kersi, 30+.......I wish it was just that. Unfortunately, it's at least that and a bit more to boot! 30+...they were the good old days, when men were men and women ate their young!
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Bingo, it's Ernie McCormick, Brett. A Bo Derek 10/10 to you on your research! And good on you John. Only 18 and still preferring Test cricket. So there is hope for all of us -- young, old and those inbetween.
John Hunt
Guest
I'm 18 and i live with a group of 18-24 year olds. A majority of 18-24 year olds i know prefer Test cricket to 20/20 cricket. I think at time CA's info is a bit mixed up.
Brett McKay
Guest
Kersi, I'll admit that the internets have been my friend here, but I've found the answer. Searching generally, I'd narrowed things down to either Charles Fleetwood-Smith or Ernie McCormick, and delving in a little deeper it turns out that one of these gentlemen became a jeweller post-cricket (forget your Channel Nine commentary gig!!) and hand-crafted the trophy during the 60/61 series. Apparently, the ball atop the trophy is in fact from the Tied Test. A. Ernie McCormick
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Brett, I replied to you an hour ago but somehow it did not get printed. Yes, the cricketer who crafted The Frank Worrell Trophy in 1961 was then a former Test cricketer. Born in 1906 and passed away in 1991, he played 12 Tests for Australia as a fast bowler from 1935 - 38. He took a wicket with his first ball in an Ashes Test.
Brett McKay
Guest
Kersi, 'former' at the time he crafted the FWT??
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Thank you all for your feedbacks. Eamonn, you are correct in presuming that most present at the Brisbane tied Test golden jubilee celebration last week were over 50. But there were a few youngsters too like the son of Colin McDonald and a relative of Phil and Bill Alley. Not to forget Roar's 30+ Bayman, clapping away. Now here is a quiz for all Roarers (except Bayman, who was present): Who crafted The Frank Worrell Trophy? Hint: He was a former Australian fast bowler.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Kersi,I am ambivalent about Twenty20. It is not my preferred spectacle but I can understand there is a demand for it. What I am against is privatising(even partly) a domestic competition. Why pretend? Why not go the whole hog and call it the PMIPL which translated is THE POOR MAN'S INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE. Coming to the Tied Test this was the shot in the arm that cricket needed. Don Bradman actually exhorted the two captains to play positive and entertaining cricket. Cricket in the end cannot be a law unto itself. It must cater to the needs of the spectator. And there is a subtle difference between catering to the needs and pandering to the needs.
Brett McKay
Guest
Great write-up Kersi, and there's no doubt the Tied Test and the 60/61 series will forever remain toward the top of Test cricket highlights. Is that iconic image of the West Indian fieldsmen rejoicing still the cover photo of the CSW scorebook, as it has been for all my life?? As for the future, it's hard to say, and while Test cricket will never die for me, I concede that that may not be the case for everyone. Vinay raises some valid questions in his column today, and you do have to have concerns about what T20 might ultimately do for the game...
Eamonn Flanagan
Guest
Kersi you write, "And not a single yawn, let alone tears, to suggest the demise of cricket!" How many under 25s in the room? Who wants to watch one day never mind five days of a game that goes forever and ends, possibly in a draw. Good luck if you can keep selling that to the masses. Even one-day cricket is now too much for us additcted to instant, facebook, twitter, five days - you are joking! Even the one-day opener today in Melbourne is expecting less than 20,000 today, another record, record low. Maybe everyone was at the talk fest you speak of:) Nice to believe Test Cricket is alive and dominating Kersi but perhaps we need to look beyond the 30 or so days of Ashes cricket. Like the All Black tests in Union, play them all the time and they lose their gloss. 20/20 will challenge all sports, but particularly cricket itself. Will it kill the Test, will 20/20 die itself, one day is gone already..or is it? So many questions but in which form can the game survive?
Whiteline
Guest
Sheek If the games' administrators keep pushing 20/20 as the future of cricket, (which they are doing a pretty good job at currently!) then I'm afraid you are right. After all, advertising does work and eventually people start to take notice and believe what they see and hear.
sheek
Guest
Hi Kersi, I'm one of those who is sceptical about the future of test cricket. The maths is simply overwhelming. Test cricket is loved by us older folk & we are getting increasingly fewer by the years. T20 cricket is loved by the young folk, & their numbers are increasing daily! Unless we can find a way for young folk to appreciate test cricket in the same way as us older folk, then it's doomed. Brutal truth.