For Test cricket to continue we need competitiveness

Why on earth would you move what is proving to be your golden goose - the BBL - out of the school holiday period? I'm sorry this obsession among the old guard has got to end (god i'm 46, so I can well remember the 'balmy summers' of the post-WSC era when we had the 50 over game at its peak of popularity, and a reinvigorated test scene. But these days are gone. Now if you want to get the kids in, you've got to give them (and a lot of their families) what they want. Which, for better or worse, is T20 It seems petulant to keep telling the public that the format of the game they increasingly like, watch, attend and follow is not quite up to scratch according to the purists, and therefore we want it moved to a less family-friendly period and replace it with a competition that no one attends and which runs at a huge loss (subsidised in large part by the BBL) Good luck attracting new followers then, also good luck getting enough cash in the door to pay players to stay in Australia. Wait for the exodus to the IPL

I hope I'm wrong too. But I call it as I see it.

Against it. Partly because Test cricket is the pinnacle you can't have second tier of the pinnacle. But mostly because we need more top tier nations, not less. The game needs Ireland and Afghanistan, or whoever else, to come forth and show their wares against professional FC opposition, show they structure in place to continue to improve and then be granted Test status (possibly staying in the Intercontinental Cup - which is the second tier of international First Class cricket - for a short time alongside their first few years of Tests; so the likes of Scotland, Netherlands, etc don't find the quality of opposition dropping off too drastically). The big nations need to be encouraged to play the likes of West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh; and the poorer nations need more assistance in maintaining a competitive standard. That means more ICC funds going to the poorer nations, not stripping them of funds and handing money back to India, Australia and England as the ICC coup agreement does. Money won't fix everything, especially in West Indies and Zimbabwe, but are a necessary part of the equation. Part of it would be to get rid of weighting in the Test rankings, and have equal points for results against all opposition. That would encourage a mix of easy points against the weaker teams, and money making series against the stronger ones. Yes, it means uncompetitive summers like this one; but that may be a necessity for the Test cricket to not shrink back to two nations, and then oblivion.

Spot on the pitches are the problem. Why? As I see it it is because the ICC and their pseudo master the BCCI want pitches that help India better perform overseas. They have a dreadful away record. Probably the worst in world cricket. Take the pitches for the Indian series last summer. Apart from the Gabba all were batting friendly not the traditional hard, pacey seamers of yesteryear that trouble Indians.

Like that idea Bob

Test cricket will never die because the players will not let it. There will be anarchy if anyone messes with the product most players love and prefer over any other form of cricket.

Fraid I agree with you sheek. It is being destroyed from within. As I see it cricket administrators, the so called custodians of the great sport of cricket are more concerned with kow towing to rich tv executives. They could not give a fig for the poor bloke who has to sell his mother in law to take his family to a day of test cricket.

If tournaments can be compartmentalised it reduces the chance of cricketers having to make to Sophie's choice between cash and country. In the case of the West Inides, they simply need to be paid better by the board. This is a hackneyed comment I know but it is the bald truth. The ICC make adequate money out of the World Cup to subsidise the WICB for example. Test cricket is enduring. It can leverage the power of T20 if it really wants to as long as it is managed right. Young fans will follow their favourite T20 stars over to test cricket.

Have another look at some test records Steve.

Hear! Hear! Well said.

I take issue with @Thomas McLean's following statement: "The conclusion for Australia, England and India is if they truly want Test cricket to be the pinnacle they need to foster the development of their opponents." The afore three countries have created a best of all worlds for them in terms of who they play when, as well as income from cricket. However, countries like SA, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka do not need any help from these three countries. They just need more tours by/from these three cricket nations. Neil Manthorp in a recent blog (http://www.supersport.com/cricket/blogs/neil-england-to-south-africa-201516-diary/Week_2) made a lot of sense regarding his views about local (in all countries) and test cricket. Test cricket is still the pinnacle. We should protect it with all means possible, even funding it from international 50-over and 20-20 cricket.

Yeah i dont really get the point of this article, test cricket seems to be more competitive now than at any time i can remember. The top 5 or 6 teams can beat each other anywhere pretty much, granted this is mainly due to an international ability to collapse but the great thing is that all of those teams are just as good at collapsing as each other. Going into the last ashes you could have argued for any score from 4-0 to 2-2 to either side, the recent NZ tour was way way closer than the final result showed which makes the upcoming tour of NZ one to look forward to (apart from the lack of games boo)

As others have said it's the pitches that are the problem. Test cricket is about strategy but if the pitch stays the same for 5 days then a lot of that goes away. Without it you're left with every ball being the same and rather than skill you are waiting for a mistake to bring about wickets.

A 2 tier comp would be damagingly elitist. Instead of expecting every series to be close, why not enjoy the progress made by minnows. There is always a star or two to enjoy. That will not happen unless they play against the best. The Windies improved greatly and quickly in 2.4 tests.

Have to agree. I understand the time constraints, with more nations to play each other now in Test cricket than ever before, and more forms of cricket to be squeezed into the calendar, but let 's give touring squads a chance to acclimatise with at least two lead-in first class matches. Also, how do Roarers feel about a two tier Test competition, with the onus on first tier countries to host a second tier country every other year, or something similar?5

yea yea yea, heard it all before, you're wrong

Don, Stop posting under your pseudonym.

The Older, Oh please, there's a difference between evolution & extinction. Test cricket is under serious threat. And the greatest threat comes from those running the game. From within! I thought this would be reasonably obvious. If test cricket does survive it will be because people who care made the authorities stick to their word. Test cricket isn't going to survive 'just because' it's always been there....

Sheek I often think we cricket followers missed out on seeing one of the all time greatest teams, in South Africa in the early 70s. Though Apartheid was a blight and had to be eradicated, it was just unfortunate that the battle to destroy it, coincided when South Africa had probably their greatest team. Just the chance to see Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock together would have been worth a ticket to the match. Regrettably South Africa have never reached those heights again, though they have had some mighty fine sides including the recent teams and of course when Shaun Pollock was doing his stuff.

The players don't run cricket. Administrators after short term money do, and they have shown themselves to have no regard for tradition or what made the game great. India, Austalia and England could save Test cricket if they wanted to. They choose not to.