How the T20 revolution can revive Test cricket

Great comment Sheek

Nothing wrong with the product. That issue is about standards of living...economics.

I agree with your sentiments Sheek. Anyway First class and one day cricket produces T20 cricketers not the other way around. However I have to say sadly that the recent Test series between SA and Sri Lanka was played in virtually empty stadiums. However the First T20 game between these same 2 sides last week was sold out. Not only is T20 producing a brand of cricketer out of sync with Test cricket , but also a whole different brand of cricketing fan who don't care a hoot for anything longer than 40 overs. I am a die hard test cricket fan but am off to the pub now to catch the 2nd T20 game in an hour or so with my mates.

Jim Maxwell is the worst cricket commentator of all time. It tajes a lot to get me to turn off The ABC...but he achieves it. Gerard Whately is a gem.

Others have taken issue with the cricket being on life support claim. I will aim elsewhere. I have heard constantly how T20 has helped test cricket similarly to one day cricket. Sorry, this a case of the war-movie theme, "One Bridge Too Far". Yes, limited overs cricket improved batting rates, fielding athleticism, even bowling tactics. No, T20 is totally counter-productive. Batsmen are losing the art of building an innings with patience & bowlers are losing the ability to think batsmen out with patience. The key word here is "patience". You don't need patience in T20. The frantic nature of the game will bring boundaries & wickets. Guaranteed. But you need oceans of patience in test & first-class cricket. Often things won't happen automatically & you have to have a plan B or plan C that you can implement. I'm afraid it's nonsense to say T20 is good for test cricket. It is not, it is producing a new generation of cricketers who will be clueless as to how to play the long game. This is turn will be the killer of test cricket. Cricketers who have lost the art.....

Well he's got time to practice now that he isn't bowling...

Haha yes thats the fellow. I don't think Glen is ready for commentary just yet.

I always liked limited overs cricket in addition to test cricket, whatever the format 50 overs or 20 overs. When they start treating the whole thing like a joke and talking to players in the middle of action that put me off. If people watch T20 only they do it because they are interested in seeing big hitting all the time not cheap comedy hour chatting up players. Whatever lows have been stooped to in the Big Bash is nothing compared to how Channel 9 have treated the test cricket. Its like an endless informercial, if its dying why are Channel NIne flogging everything they have during the broadcast. if however you turn off the commentary you can escape. Big Bash while they concentrate on the cricket , its become a turkey Fest created by crazed marketing. Do people get paid to wear the KFC bucket on their head or are the crowds that dumb to be led into doing it. Its not a team symbol what is it doing on people's heads. Even the streakers who were also descibed as heroes in an article turned out to be a group of publicity seeking fakes. They got crowd funding to cover their fines, and were doing it as a cheap publicity stunt maybe so they could get on Big Brother and become a B grade celebrity figure. Test cricket needs to be saved from Channel Nine, Australian T20 championship would be a good name and getting rid of all the other marketing gimmicks.

Jim Maxwell?

No. Do not change test cricket? It would no longer be a game then for the purists. Introducing pink ball day/niters into test cricket is a big enouth step imo.

In the TV coverage of Test and One Day cricket,the players are on the Screen longer than any TV or Movie Stars.Some players are aware of the exposure they are receiving and playing like Movie stars.The way they carry on when a wicket falls,running in from all over the field to make sure they are in the picture, focused on the Wicket taker. Then the celebration of making 50 and 100 . I can see in the future each team as well as having a Coach,batting coach,bowling coach,fielding coach,there will be an Acting Coach . And throw in a hairdresser. Big Deal. Sava

Indeed. If anyone cares to notice, there have been some absolutely fantastic Test matches around the world in the last year or two. We had a team lose last week after scoring 595 in the first innings; we've recently had 3 matches where a team has scored 400+ and lost by an innings with a last day collapse; just before that we nearly had a team chase down 480 odd to win a Test; we've had team's losing 7+ wickets in the last session of day 5 to lose a match; we've had 100s before lunch on Day 1 and 23 ball 50s; at the SCG Australia scored at over 7 rpo in the second innings for a total of over 200; when Aust toured Sri Lanka we had some brilliant Test matches with swings and roundabouts and which included a hat-trick by Herath and one of the great fast bowling performances by Starc. We've seen the brilliance of Bavuma's fielding; the emergence of guns like Rabada; potentially one of the game's greatest ever players in Ashwin; the ongoing rivalry of Smith, Kohli, Root and Williamson as the great batsmen of the era where each player seems to be spurring the others on to greater heights; indeed in Smith he's joined a club of 4 who have an average of over 60 after 50 Tests - the other 3 being some old guys called Bradman, Hobbs and Sutcliffe; and so on. All this achieved without fireworks and dancing girls. The only T20 where I can recall what happened was the 4 balls in the most recent final (which admittedly was pretty spectacular). And the Aust T20 side next month will be unrecognisable given the clash with the India tour.

Big bash works cause it's affordable for the family and during the school holidays only where people can take their kids after work to the cricket. They have done a great job. don't change test 2 much. Free hit is not needed.

Sigh...... Ok lets start this from the beginning. Test cricket is not on life support, the only people who seem to think that are those who are trying to make T20 the only form of the game left to watch. It appears unless it contains fireworks, loud music, dancing girls and bright shiny things it doesn't hold the attention of people these days. Yes, T20 has been a marvelous success and is a great, short, fun game to watch. But it is vastly different to test cricket and should remain so. Test cricket is not even close to dead. Microphones on players may be ok for an hour or so while they run around in the evening, but I am pretty sure carrying one all day in the summer heat would get a bit annoying. As would constantly being hassled by the idiots in the channel 9 commentary box. I don't really want to hear from Davie or Steve, I just want them to play the game to the best of their ability. Test match cricket is a mental game as well as a physical one. It takes a special kind of person to concentrate that hard all day at the crease. The majority of top class bastmen will be dismissed through a lapse in concentration, and you want that to come in the form of a stupid question form Mark bloody Nicholas?? Oh and Steve Smith has not been bowling the GOAT much lately because his form has been terrible, he has been throwing pies all summer and he simply didn't want to concede any more runs. When he is good he is quite alright, when he is off he is terrible. Test cricket is a game that requires patience and understanding, unlike T20. Having better commentators will help you understand the game more than annoying the players on the field. I might suggest listening to Glen Maxwell on the ABC.

Agreed 100%. Where are the statistics on crowd numbers showing a decline. Sure, Test cricket doesn't get the numbers of a T20 game, but, the five day Test is all one game. So, if you only get 15,000 people there for each of the first 3 days, that's still 45,000 people attending that game. The Ashes is always well attended. Same as the Boxing day Test. The version of cricket that I dislike the most is ODI's. I just think 50 overs is too many (now that T20 is so common). Take yesterdays game (Aus v Pak) in Perth. With more than 25 overs to go, barring a miracle, we all knew what the result was going to be. It was just a matter of waiting for it to end. Some would say that Test cricket is too long, but, for me, the beauty of Test cricket is you never really know who is on top till at least 3-4 days in. And even that can change. Look at the Test series against Pakistan this summer. I did not think Pakistan would get even vaguely close to chasing the 4th innings score in Brisbane. And after the rain, and a big first innings from Pakistan, to see Australia roll them on day 5 in Sydney was fantastic cricket. We need to do something to ODI's, not turn Test cricket into a spectacle. Test cricket is perfectly healthy as it is...

"With five-day cricket on life support in recent years, as fans turn to the shorter forms, something needs to be done to bring Test cricket back." Once, just once, I wish an article akin to this one actually backed up a statement like this with some actual evidence, instead of simply assuming that it's true. I haven't noticed that test cricket is on life support, nor do I think it's necessary to ruin the spectacle of test match cricket with gimmicks that refuse to let the game speak for itself.

So first things first based on NRL - we need some gawdy pyrotechnics as the players enter the field, some cheap dancers and advertising all over the playing apparel. Well, we can see where T20 got it from. The irony here being that T20 has made it work in almost AFL proportions with respect to drawing crowds - as compared to NRL proportions. For test cricket - scheduling and the pink ball appear the key in Australia. And the state of pitches. Tests need to do just that - centuries need to be earned.