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The day-night Test on November 27 has been hugely anticipated for a long time but you don’t get the feeling that the players understand the magnitude of the event. As a heavily dedicated fan of cricket, the time has come to say that Test cricket is on life support.
The success of the 2015 Cricket World Cup and the popularity of the T20 Big Bash League show that people still love the game; just not the traditional five-day format which has been ingrained in our blood since the days of Victor Trumper and WG Grace.
It seems that Test matches not involving any of the ‘Big Three’ – Australia, England or India – are rarely able to fill up any stadiums. The crowds of the first two Tests against New Zealand have been extremely disappointing despite there being sustained media coverage about the quality of the Black Caps.
Television ratings have been solid, averaging about one million per session, but it should be obtaining higher figures. While the one-day series involving India and South Africa was a hit with the crowds, the Test match in Mohali had a man and his dog viewing the game.
The most disappointing aspect is that the quality of cricket has been fantastic, as Kane Williamson and David Warner have batted superbly. Some might say the Perth Test lacked a contest but draws have always been there even when Test cricket was thriving.
There have been many arguments about spicing up the Test pitches, but Australian pitches have been characterised for a long time by the consistency of bounce and have favoured batting for decades.
A major factor in the decline of Test crowds is that there is excessive cricket in all formats being played compared to 20 years go. Households can only afford to spend a certain amount of their budget on buying tickets. Preferring $15 for a general admission ticket to watch a Big Bash game where there is a capacity crowd over paying $100 for a decent ticket at a Test is a decision not many sane people can question.
Of course Test matches have the history and the nation-on-nation concept, but if tickets are too expensive then Cricket Australia is alienating a huge proportion of the public.
Another issue is the impact of a lack of star power from opposition. A Test match against weaker sides such as the West Indies, who are arriving later this summer, or Sri Lanka 10 years ago, would still have been a one-sided contest like now, but fans were able to watch the might of Brian Lara or Kumar Sangakkara.
Angelo Matthews and Jason Holder are very good players but the public would struggle to recognise them. Even a team like Pakistan, which has been unsuccessful on Australian shores, used to have the calibre of players such as Wasim Akram and Inzamam Ul-Haq. Virtually every major Test-playing nation about 10 years ago, excluding Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, had players that we can consider all-time greats.
That depth isn’t simply there in Test cricket anymore which means the public isn’t as tolerant of the grind as they may have been 10-15 years ago
Traditionalists will be quick to point out the fabulous five of Warner, Steve Smith, Williamson, Virat Kohli and Joe Root, but with the exception of Williamson the rest are from the Big Three. AB De Villiers is probably on the level of Sachin Tendulkar and Lara but is over 30 years old with South Africa lacking a young ace batsman.
Mitchell Starc and South African Kagiso Rabada show that the future of Test match fast bowling is not all doom and gloom but the cupboard is very bare compared to the golden era of the 1990s. Yasir Shah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon are the torch bearers for spin but are nowhere near the quality of Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan or even Stuart MacGill.
Comments from Australian players being sceptical of the pink ball are extremely narrow-minded as they are unable to comprehend how dire the situation of Test cricket is. Playing in front of empty stadiums in South Africa and the UAE means they should perhaps appreciate what day-night Test cricket can do.
Tests are a wonderful feature of the game that has united cricket-playing nations, so day-night cricket is hopefully a success that brings families back to the ground. After all, if it sparks interest in the public of the minor nations then the depth of Test cricket might start to build up again.
If it fails to revitalise the game, then cricket fans should simply be satisfied with one-day internationals and T20 cricket.
Other sports that were invented in the 1600s have faded out, and we should appreciate that there are other formats of cricket that the public still find entertaining.
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