Test cricket is dying, let's help save it

May 5, 2016
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Can't do a thing. If sides don't have the ability you won't get close matches. Like i said, it's not a handicap system. One thing you can't change is home ground advantage. Pitches as so different in most countries, that's what makes most of the one sided Test matches. We hammer Pakistan here but they hammer us in the UAE. India is unbeatable at home but useless outside Asia. That's just the way it is. Unless you want to go to a franchise system where players play Test cricket for a team, eliminating actual nations, then nothing at all can be done.

What been suggested is cosmetic and only an attempt to paper over cracks. Still have home pitch advantage and that's why games are one-sided.

Do you think Western Australian batsmen of the 70s-2000s were born good at facing fast bouncy bowling?

no. They became that way because they played regularly at the WACA and adjusted.

how will an Indian or Sri Lankan batsman learn to play on Australian pitches when he is literally learning by playing a fringe state second XI attack on a non-test pitch for one match before launching into a 4 test series?

yes all teams have always had decent home ground advantage but we all know that away teams were more regularly competitive than they are now. And much of that is preparation.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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Agree to disagree then. I don't agree with you at all. If you want to watch boring no contest test cricket be my guest. It won't be around much longer the rate it's going
test cricket will be about - did you see the crowd figures for the boxing day test.

aust/eng/ind/sa will always have test cricket.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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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

we already have franchise cricket !
 
Jan 13, 2015
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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.

teams have been stronger at home for 140+ years.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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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

we had 6 odi's here last summer, we have 3 this summer (and they are in march of all things !!)

odi's have now slowed up with the introduction of the odi championship.

i mean we havent played an odi since the semi final of the world cup.
 
Aug 27, 2014
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Let's hear your ideas in helping make Tests more competitive
Get West Indies cricket up and about. South Africa too.
Pakistan too.
Test criclet will be at it's best again when Windies, Saffers, Pakis and Australia are all strong.
We are starting to get back a bit more on track but the others still a worry.
 
Sep 21, 2002
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5 test series again giving the away team a proper 1 month lead up minimum.

This is it. Under the current climate, the home teams have way too much advantage, and with opposition captains ever willing to field first when they win the toss, they lose any advantage they may have gained. Can't do it any more due to obsession with ODIs and T20s, but I remember when teams would come to Australia, spend the entire summer here, and play a number of 1st class matches against the state teams before the 1st Test. Usually, if they were playing in Brisbane, their previous game would be against Qld at the Gabba. If the Test was in Adelaide, the previous game would be against SA, etc.

This is where the limited over game has eroded into Test cricket. Visiting teams simply do not have the time to come to Australia in order to acclimatise. Pity, but this is the world we live in, and there's no going back.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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This is it. Under the current climate, the home teams have way too much advantage, and with opposition captains ever willing to field first when they win the toss, they lose any advantage they may have gained. Can't do it any more due to obsession with ODIs and T20s, but I remember when teams would come to Australia, spend the entire summer here, and play a number of 1st class matches against the state teams before the 1st Test. Usually, if they were playing in Brisbane, their previous game would be against Qld at the Gabba. If the Test was in Adelaide, the previous game would be against SA, etc.

This is where the limited over game has eroded into Test cricket. Visiting teams simply do not have the time to come to Australia in order to acclimatise. Pity, but this is the world we live in, and there's no going back.

but with 12 test nations now, 5 tests series ain't happening .

it would effectively take 12 years to play each nation at home and away in a 5 test series - so that ain't happening.

if 5 test series came back then aust would only be playing eng, india and sth africa pretty much - effectively making it a 2 or 3 tier system.

test cricket has enough issues - slow over rates, DRS etc etc.
 

deanc

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Jun 13, 2014
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Given one of the biggest challenges is the away team winning - do away with the toss and let the visiting side choose.

Would ensure more green on the wicket in Australia and less of a dustbowl in india

Yes, I'm an advocate for abolishing the toss in test cricket, allowing the visitors to nominate their choice.

It may also help if Aus/CA could stick with and maintain traditional but varied surfaces at the different venues.

Despite offering the tourists some variety it may also help our boys when they do play on similar pitches overseas.

Brisbane- A little quick, bounce early, spinners later
Adelaide - Medium, flat deck, good for batting
Perth - Hard and fast
MCG - Medium, a bit two-paced, wearing pitch
SCG - No grass, hard early but a dust bowl turner
Hobart - A bit slow, plenty of grass, seamers deck
 
Apr 24, 2013
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Everytime I see somebody suggest removing the coin toss and letting the visiting team decide to bat or bowl, my mind goes back to the Ashes series here two years ago when Joe Root won the toss four times for four resounding losses.

The toss is nowhere near as big an advantage as the home advantage, but it still helps.

Logically, if there was no advantage in winning the toss, then it wouldn't exist. So we should give that slight advantage to the away team to compensate somewhat for the massive home advantage.
 
May 10, 2007
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Abolish T20 cricket so players from lesser countries that are quality don't retire early to go make money through T20 cricket, also batsmen will have to adapt to having proper techniques again.

Yes I know T20 cricket is going nowhere and will only become bigger and bigger.
 

Wedge McManus

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Jan 16, 2019
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Well it looks as if the ICC have taken our concerns on board and are going to formally discuss mandatory 4 day tests from 2023 onwards next year. 60% of all tests played since the start of 2018 have been won on or before the 4th day. Says alot. 98 overs to be bowled in a day so only 58 lost overall from a 5 day test.

Apparently the broadcasters want to sell the changes as a similar model to golf with a Thursday start and Sunday finish. Perfect from a home viewing slot perspective

That would really speed things up for captains chasing a win, higher run rates, more risks, bowling first etc to get 20 wickets...

Pitches apparently must provide for seam, spin and bounce taking into account no 5th day wear and tear so groundspeople can't prepare slow , low dead pitches in the hope that by the 5th day, normal wear and tear and footmarks etc will force a result.

A momentous day (possibly) for cricket 💪💪💪👍👍👍
 
Jul 30, 2008
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Strong test nations going on more tours to lesser test nations would go a long way towards improving the quality of the the whole competition. Won't happen though because money. Hell, one of the Australian teams most competitive series in recent years was Bangladesh away.

Less meaningless one-day & T20 internationals. I'd be all for just having a world cup every 3 years and that's it, that's the only time that anyone cares about one day cricket anyway. Same with T20, scrap the meaningless internationals and keep it as a world cup every few years and the respective leagues around the world.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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Well it looks as if the ICC have taken our concerns on board and are going to formally discuss mandatory 4 day tests from 2023 onwards next year. 60% of all tests played since the start of 2018 have been won on or before the 4th day. Says alot. 98 overs to be bowled in a day so only 58 lost overall from a 5 day test.

Apparently the broadcasters want to sell the changes as a similar model to golf with a Thursday start and Sunday finish. Perfect from a home viewing slot perspective

That would really speed things up for captains chasing a win, higher run rates, more risks, bowling first etc to get 20 wickets...

Pitches apparently must provide for seam, spin and bounce taking into account no 5th day wear and tear so groundspeople can't prepare slow , low dead pitches in the hope that by the 5th day, normal wear and tear and footmarks etc will force a result.

A momentous day (possibly) for cricket 💪💪💪👍👍👍

it looks like next summer the aust v afghanistan test (in bris or perth) will be a bit of a trial and made into a 4 day test.
 

DAlembert

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Mar 12, 2019
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Do you think Western Australian batsmen of the 70s-2000s were born good at facing fast bouncy bowling?

no. They became that way because they played regularly at the WACA and adjusted.

how will an Indian or Sri Lankan batsman learn to play on Australian pitches when he is literally learning by playing a fringe state second XI attack on a non-test pitch for one match before launching into a 4 test series?

yes all teams have always had decent home ground advantage but we all know that away teams were more regularly competitive than they are now. And much of that is preparation.
The WACA was not the only wicket in WA that had bounce and pace. 1st grade cricketers got to play plenty of games against Shield and Test players on bouncy Quick Grade Wickets. Most grade teams had very good quality fast bowlers also. With the ball coming onto the bat these wickets gave batsman value for shots also. You are right about preparation Test sides just do not get that anymore.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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This is good. Very good....

i dont mind the concept of 4 day tests starting on a thursday - that has merit

the 4 days would need to be a minimum of 98 overs a day though.

only problem is if day 1 is entirely washed out, we aint more than likely getting a result, whereas in a 5 day test it is still very possible.

so 4 day tests of a minimum of 98 overs under a stadium with a roof gets the thumbs up :)
 

Wedge McManus

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i dont mind the concept of 4 day tests starting on a thursday - that has merit

the 4 days would need to be a minimum of 98 overs a day though.

only problem is if day 1 is entirely washed out, we aint more than likely getting a result, whereas in a 5 day test it is still very possible.

so 4 day tests of a minimum of 98 overs under a stadium with a roof gets the thumbs up :)
From what I read on the report. Four day cricket mandatory from 2023 would free up 355 days per year so hopefully the powers that be could schedule tests at appropriate times ie not in the middle of monsoon season for Sri Lanka and preferably never ever in Dunedin, NZ. 98 overs was mandatory too but don't know if these precious little players could cop that. They might strike?!! Led by Chris Lynn no doubt
 
Sep 21, 2002
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i dont mind the concept of 4 day tests starting on a thursday - that has merit

the 4 days would need to be a minimum of 98 overs a day though.

only problem is if day 1 is entirely washed out, we aint more than likely getting a result, whereas in a 5 day test it is still very possible.

so 4 day tests of a minimum of 98 overs under a stadium with a roof gets the thumbs up :)

There have been over 120 Test match grounds, how many of them would have a roof?

Here's an idea, why not leave Test cricket the way it is and let us true lovers of Test cricket enjoy it. We have enough bastardised cricket thrown on for the hit and giggle fans who couldn't give a stuff about cricket, can't us Test fans have something?
 

Wedge McManus

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I can see it going ahead. It's only a matter of time now. With WTC points at stake those four day tests could be extremely exciting. I agree it would only take one day lost to weather to force a draw but that's where decent scheduling should take priority. Tim Paine FFS has already dismissed it I thought he had more brains than that. Disappointing to read his comments on it today
 

Vegeta

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test cricket will be about - did you see the crowd figures for the boxing day test.

aust/eng/ind/sa will always have test cricket.
They were only that great because kiwis made the trip over as it was our first boxing day Test in 32 years. You won't see the same turnout the next time we play because of the way we've performed and that historic element for NZ fans isn't there. Aussie fans don't want to see a one sided ass whipping either, they want a contesr where they're meant to fight for the win - something we haven't done this series and will deter fans in future.
 
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