In the past ten years, T20 has taken the game by storm, Test cricket viewership has decreased, players are prioritising the shortest format, and with no quality action, Test have become increasingly predictable.
Yet with limited-over specialists being brought into Test sides, the longest format has become more interesting than ever.
Scoring rates and wicket-taking abilities have gone up, neutral pitches are being prepared and, most importantly, even low-scoring matches have become exciting to watch.
Regarding the pitches, the home side always has an advantage, but we’re forgetting that this is the 21st century and we have technology. Touring teams can simulate conditions to prepare their players, seeing them coming out victorious more frequently.
This means there is a growing sense of uncertainty as to what will happen in the next game.
Confidence plays a colossal role in cricket and if you’ve performed well in one game, you’re ought to perform well in the next one too. And if you perform well, the whole team does well because after seeing someone do well, others want to do it too.
Let’s take the Indian tour of South Africa and England as examples. No one expected that they would have to wait until the fifth day to get a result that no one could have predicted, because the pendulum was swinging hard in each side’s favour. The matches were low-scoring and close, which made it fun to watch.
The swinging conditions in England, the bouncy tracks and hostile crowds in Australia, and the turning tracks in India more often than not produce some of the best matches. South Africa has been producing some great matches as well, which engages viewers.
Pace bowlers have been fast, which is mainly responsible for the growing contest between bat and ball, although the tweakers have been spinning the batsmen around their heads! Fielding has gone to the next level, with blinders being taken, dollies being dropped, and then the fielders striking back in the next over.
Test cricket has got a new lease of life and the conditions are ripe to witness some great encounters.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
140kph is medium fast unless you are facing it.
keith hurst
Roar Pro
Except for the period when Trevor Bailey and Geoff Boycott tried to bore us into oblivion, Test cricket has always been interesting. As a contest test cricket is unique pitting two teams into a mental and physical confrontation that usually determines a winner. Even the draws are usually worth following. What T20 and ODI's have done is produce players whose approach to cricket is more attacking and therefore better to watch. Test cricket is built into the Australian psyche and something like the ball tampering fiasco made such waves all over the country akin to killing a koala. Long live Jim Maxwell!
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
1.All test matches in India are massively supported and not just at the stadiums but by hundreds of millions of TV viewers . 2. Should Pakistan actually play in Pakistan and not in the Middle East I will emphatically state that the same would apply . It is not the fault of Test cricket that they do not. 3. Any Ashes series be it in Australia or England is as always very well supported . Stadiums generally full . TV viewership high. 4. The recent past series between South Africa and India , SA and Australia ( home and away) , SA and England , home and away were well supported both at the stadiums and in viewership . Teams such as New Zealand , Sri Lanka , Bangladesh and in the last 25 years The West Indies games were never well supported at Test level either at home or abroad . So I would be loathe to suggest that Test cricket is dying . Yes the T20 games are packed almost wherever played but without market research at my fingertips I would suggest that the T20 format has attracted a whole new category of supporter who probably would not have watched Test cricket anyway . As for fielding standards , teams such as South Africa , Aus , NZ and England have historically always fielded well and prided themselves on it . The massive improvement has come from the sub-continent where 25 years ago it was so bad it was ( almost) laughable . When Gary Kirsten began to coach India he made fielding drills and skills a huge priority with good reason . Conclusion: Overall it is inescapable that fielding has improved in world cricket .
Daiwik
Roar Rookie
Play in England or Australia and you'll see the scoring rate go up. The Australian team is undergoing a transition phase and they are bound to struggle. Coming to the empty stands, people in India take their jobs very seriously and this is a peak seasons for many of them. I can say this because I'm an Indian. And of course, playing against the Windies makes no sense because you know the result already and they are on a decline ( credit to their board). To counter your argument, Abbas bowled 7 overs on the trot and maybe more but I lost the count. Asian tracks are bound to assist the spinners because of the soil quality and since the Australian tracks don't have that much turn, the batsmen aren't accustomed to playing sharp turners.
Paul
Roar Guru
boundary catching is streets ahead of previous eras for a start.
Paul
Roar Guru
what does this comment mean? Fast bowling has always been defined as 90mph or quicker. 3mph less than that can hardly be called "medium" fast.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Maybe, I would say it is better, but not by that much
Rellum
Roar Guru
By international standards of the last 40 years, yes.
Paul
Roar Guru
If Test cricket is so interesting to watch, why are so many games played in virtually empty grounds? India just completed a 2 Test series versus the West Indies where the margins were 10 wickets and an innings and 272 runs. Tell me how much fun that must have been for West Indies fans? South Africa toured Sri Lanka and made three scores of 126, 73 and 124, getting beaten by at least 199 runs in each Test of a 2 Test series. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun if you're a South African supporter. "Scoring rates and wicket-taking abilities have gone up, neutral pitches are being prepared ". Do you have any stats to support your statement about the scoring rates? I saw some yesterday which show they have gone down, certainly in Australia's case. I'm also keen to know how wicket taking abilities have gone up? As for your comment about neutral pitches - did you see the surfaces SA deliberately prepared to combat the Indian batsmen? They're not alone in that respect. I love Test cricket but am afraid the game as a whole is going backwards and much of this can be put down to the rise of one day cricket. There are probably a dozen or so guys in world cricket who could bat for 3 or more full sessions on a regular basis, batting collapses are a regular feature of Tests these days, while getting a quick to bowl 10 or more overs on the trot is harder than getting a child to eat vegetables! I hope Test stay as part of the cricket scene for many years to come but short form cricket will kill that wish off, probably in the next 30 years as guys forget how to play the longer form. It's already happening now.
Paul
Roar Guru
while close in catching skills have waned, outfield catching is at least 100% better than it was 30 years ago.
Paul
Roar Guru
140kmh or 87 mph is mediumish fast. Really?
Matt H
Roar Guru
I would argue ground field is better than ever, but catching skills, particularly close in, have declined substantially.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Spot on
Rellum
Roar Guru
The overall standard of fielding has improved since the 80's. That just means all the hopeless guys don't exist anymore. There are no bad fielders out there. But the high end of fielding has definitely dropped off to a significantly lower standard. I actually think t20's have a lot to do with this as fielding in a t20 game is actually easier and very similar. Some will not agree with that but there is no need for slip fielders in t20's and even one dayers now. In fielders have less to do as well. t20 and one day cricket to a lesser degree have a large amount of boundary riding and that means less practice in the middle in the difficult catching roles. Also, this is probably the slowest era I can remember in regards to fast bowling. Everyone gets excited if someone is over 140kph. That mediumish fast.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
I love test cricket, good to hear your enjoyment too . A few things I’m don’t agree that fielding is better then ever , I think Australia have dropped their standards tbh . . Not sure how old the author is and whether you have seen Steve Waugh , mark Taylor Aussie’s or saw the West Indies at their best . As for pitches. Australia is the most benign place for flat road like wickets . English and Indian conditions provide the most interesting test matches . It’s probably not the best era of test cricket, but it’s still pretty damn good