First and foremost, I am passionate about Test cricket, the purest form of the game. I have been a fan since the mid-nineties.
I can remember sitting on the living room floor, as a child, in the sauna-like heat of a Queensland summer, in the pre-air-conditioning days, watching in awe as the likes of Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh battled with Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh with Richie Benaud providing marvelous commentary.
Today, I am of the opinion that Test cricket is losing credibility with the modern sports fan and will soon be consigned to the annals of history.
The rise and rise of the Twenty20 format has changed the way cricket is consumed, and by default, makes Test cricket seem slower and less interesting to the Gen Y audience.
I must admit, like many other cricket fans, I will watch Twenty20 and will attend the horribly gimmicky Big Bash League over the summer.
So, I began to think that if the Twenty20 format can be so well supported around the globe, then the problem is not with cricket but with Test cricket.
One problem with Test cricket is the general lack of meaning to most matches, bar the Ashes.
I would like to propose an actual season for Test match cricket and for arguments sake, I will call it the ICC Test Premiership.
The current ICC Test Championship is a nice way of pretending to place importance on every match but is ultimately ineffective.
Now, imagine a true Test league. With the current top eight Test nations form the First Division and Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the six best affiliate nations forming the Second Division.
Each nation will play every other nation at home and away for a total of 14 matches in the regular season. The top four will enter the playoffs to determine a premier, the last-placed team will be relegated to the Second Division and the top four in the Second Division will playoff for a shot at promotion.
The season could run from June to March, allowing for both hemispheres’ respective cricket seasons and allowing for the lucrative IPL to run through April and May.
Each nation will host seven Test matches, with the maximum being nine including finals.
For Australia, this would allow places like Cairns and Darwin to host matches in winter, to spread the distribution of games out during the season.
Pakistan would more than likely have to host their games in the Gulf nations.
Nations facing England in the playoffs would have to deal with the crisp conditions of March in Britain, but other than that there would be no problems in terms of scheduling.
Nonetheless, I fear that the ICC will do nothing to save the great game and I will be left with nothing to do over summer but fly around in my zeppelin listening to cassettes while I reminisce about what cricket used to be.
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