Test cricket is dying, let's help save it

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Moonwatcher said:
Liberal residency laws would just help the strong teams.
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No salary cap in cricket, so what's to stop our fringe players going to NZ or England for two years say, and some third party paying them $500000 per year to play for them? Plus match fees that's damn good coin, good holiday for the players and the chance to play tests, which they never would here
 

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Wedge McManus said:
No salary cap in cricket, so what's to stop our fringe players going to NZ or England for two years say, and some third party paying them $500000 per year to play for them? Plus match fees that's damn good coin, good holiday for the players and the chance to play tests, which they never would here
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Well that level of 'liberality' would be interesting.
 
I know it sounds stupid and anti patriotic and all that having someone like a neser or Tremain etc playing for the enemy. But imagine the battles out in the middle with blokes who actually know how to get it done on these pitches. Same as us getting some Indian gun bats to smoke Ashwin etc over there on those turning pitches
 
Start with a 3 test series

If the away team wins a test it stays at a 3 test series then next time they tour. If they win 2 tests then it expands to a 4 test series next time.

If they don't win a test then it shrinks back to a 2 test series.

Repeat the process the next time they tour.
 
Moonwatcher said:
A bit like the bigbash the weaker sides getting two international imports would instantly improve things.
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Sounds funny I know but can you imagine the knock on effect of two or three hard working, hard training, selfless gun bats or bowlers from us going to Bangladesh or the windies and improving things at the coal face? Players around them couldn't help but improve
 
Last edited:
Ok.

looking at this as simply as I can:

MOST teams are strong at home these days. Makes sense, they all grow up playing in their familiar conditions. Most teams have always been strong at home.

through history though a good series has usually never been far away. Wherever cricket was being played, generally a touring team would go there at least every few seasons, and produce a strong competitive performance.

now what has changed in the last 15 years?

I’ll give you a clue. It starts with ‘t’ and rhymes with Plenty Plenty.

no, I’m not blaming the format. I’m blaming the prevalence of its competitions.

the calendar is so full now that it is logistically impossible for a side to prepare properly, to spend a decent amount of time in overseas conditions, or to play on a first class competition Different to their own.

is it any wonder Australia used to destroy England in England when they had a) world class players and b) a squad full of guys who had almost all played a season or more for a county team? West Indies players were renowned for it - and also played a decent amount of cricket here too.
Teams touring the subcontinent would be there for months, before Sri Lanka had test status they’d warm up with a few games on the island before getting to India.

by the time you finished a tour you’d have 8-9 games under your belt, and it had a trickle down effect in that you would only need a few games on your next tour there to reacquaint yourself with the conditions.

I’m a broken record on this but it’s truly remarkable that SA managed to go a decade unbeaten away from home until a few years ago and realistically their streak of 10 years with only 2 series defeats might not be matched for decades given the current situation and standards of world cricket
 

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Wedge McManus said:
Yea I agree about the t20 comments. Love to get rid of international T20 and have a select few premier tournaments of this format. With a dedicated window for them all. Then longer test series
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i think ideally anyone with an international contract should be limited to maybe 3 tournaments a year. Dispense with a lot of the unnecessary odi series - I would have no problem with simply a complimentary 3-5 match series as a companion to each test tour and leave it at that.
 
PhatBoy said:
i think ideally anyone with an international contract should be limited to maybe 3 tournaments a year. Dispense with a lot of the unnecessary odi series - I would have no problem with simply a complimentary 3-5 match series as a companion to each test tour and leave it at that.
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Yea I agree there are waaay too many needless ODI's. Be nice to have a premier first class comp in England with way less teams and more games with a couple of overseas spots each team. Those overseas players could fly in/out as needed so lots of spots available to keep players in form outside of tests and domestic first class games. Less grass on the pitches would better reflect the test environment too
 
PhatBoy said:
Ok.

looking at this as simply as I can:

MOST teams are strong at home these days. Makes sense, they all grow up playing in their familiar conditions. Most teams have always been strong at home.

through history though a good series has usually never been far away. Wherever cricket was being played, generally a touring team would go there at least every few seasons, and produce a strong competitive performance.

now what has changed in the last 15 years?

I’ll give you a clue. It starts with ‘t’ and rhymes with Plenty Plenty.

no, I’m not blaming the format. I’m blaming the prevalence of its competitions.

the calendar is so full now that it is logistically impossible for a side to prepare properly, to spend a decent amount of time in overseas conditions, or to play on a first class competition Different to their own.

is it any wonder Australia used to destroy England in England when they had a) world class players and b) a squad full of guys who had almost all played a season or more for a county team? West Indies players were renowned for it - and also played a decent amount of cricket here too.
Teams touring the subcontinent would be there for months, before Sri Lanka had test status they’d warm up with a few games on the island before getting to India.

by the time you finished a tour you’d have 8-9 games under your belt, and it had a trickle down effect in that you would only need a few games on your next tour there to reacquaint yourself with the conditions.

I’m a broken record on this but it’s truly remarkable that SA managed to go a decade unbeaten away from home until a few years ago and realistically their streak of 10 years with only 2 series defeats might not be matched for decades given the current situation and standards of world cricket
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Completely agree on the impact that a lack of warm up fixtures is having. They’ve been limited in this country to one or two games mostly against a “CA XI” which is most comprised of fringe state players at best quite often. Compare that to when state sides would play against touring teams and now semi-frequency the best player that they might play against is someone like Matt Short
 
Nah, imports take enjoyment out of games.

Best way to improve other teams is to have them tour more often and get use to conditions. That would require a balanced FTP but we all know that ain't happening anytime soon.

Realistically, the smaller teams should be focusing on LOIs and growing the sport with those formats. Can't see them being factors anytime soon, it will always be about the Big 3 and SA (tend to produce quality teams but seem to be on the slide). This is where cricket is headed, IMO it's only a matter of time before Test cricket is predominately played by Aus, India and England, with the smaller teams playing little to no Test cricket.

I'd really like to see us be ahead of this and get in and get ahead of other teams in the LOIs, might help us in finally winning a World Cup.
 
Vegeta said:
Nah, imports take enjoyment out of games.

Best way to improve other teams is to have them tour more often and get use to conditions. That would require a balanced FTP but we all know that ain't happening anytime soon.

Realistically, the smaller teams should be focusing on LOIs and growing the sport with those formats. Can't see them being factors anytime soon, it will always be about the Big 3 and SA (tend to produce quality teams but seem to be on the slide). This is where cricket is headed, IMO it's only a matter of time before Test cricket is predominately played by Aus, India and England, with the smaller teams playing little to no Test cricket.
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If all teams had that attitude, Sri Lanka wouldn’t have produced arguably the most stunning away series win of the millennium last summer, Pakistan wouldn’t have reached - briefly - number one in tests matches a few years ago, and Bangladesh wouldn’t have broken through for test wins over England and Australia to set new benchmarks for themselves
 
PhatBoy said:
that’s actually a very good point,even some really mediocre teams were strong in the post Christmas matches
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Andy caddick would usually start competing in the Sydney test from memory and take huge hauls. Once blokes get used to the conditions they can't help but succeed. That's why I am in awe of Cummins. I know England suits bowlers but lots of our quicks don't adapt quickly over there. First over he's in the spot and stayed there till the last test was over. We are seriously lucky to have this beast
 
PhatBoy said:
If all teams had that attitude, Sri Lanka wouldn’t have produced arguably the most stunning away series win of the millennium last summer, Pakistan wouldn’t have reached - briefly - number one in tests matches a few years ago, and Bangladesh wouldn’t have broken through for test wins over England and Australia to set new benchmarks for themselves
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You might not like to hear it, but those teams are losing a lot of money playing those matches and their boards are reluctantly playing Test cricket. If those business admins had it their way, they probably wouldn't play any Test cricket.

The writing is on the wall, I'd rather we get ahead of this and prepare for this future now. Test cricket is a tough sell, whereas T20s and ODIs are a lot short, easier to follow and can draw big crowds and generate a lot more cash for boards.

Aussies love their Test cricket and for them it is cricket, but you need to realize this isn't the case everywhere else. The shorter format games are more popular and outside traditionalists most do not care for Test cricket. Many boards including NZC lose money hosting Test matches.
 
Vegeta said:
You might not like to hear it, but those teams are losing a lot of money playing those matches and their boards are reluctantly playing Test cricket. If those business admins had it their way, they probably wouldn't play any Test cricket.

The writing is on the wall, I'd rather we get ahead of this and prepare for this future now. Test cricket is a tough sell, whereas T20s and ODIs are a lot short, easier to follow and can draw big crowds and generate a lot more cash for boards.

Aussies love their Test cricket and for them it is cricket, but you need to realize this isn't the case everywhere else. The shorter format games are more popular and most outside traditionalists do not care for Test cricket. Many boards including NZC lose money hosting Test matches.
Click to expand...

I know they’re losing money.

I follow the West Indies mate.
 
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