Is Test Cricket Dying?

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Test cricket isn't dying, just the way in which test cricket is organised is dying. Test nations simply aren't equal, leading to contests that are one-sided.

Tests should be about testing yourself against your peers. A test match between Zimbabwe and Kenya would be a fairly even match and would generate alot more local interest than a match against Bangladesh. With local interest comes participation and grass roots movement, which leads to greater popularity and greater income from sources like television.

'Test' status should be abolished and countries should be able to compete against their peers while aspiring to compete against the top nations.
 
I think 2 day, 1 innings cricket would probably be a better tool to expand long format cricket for the associate and affiliate nations. Played over the weekend, it could get more spectators and could allow the players to still work full time Mon-Fri if desired.
 
Jim Boy said:
Test cricket isn't dying, just the way in which test cricket is organised is dying. Test nations simply aren't equal, leading to contests that are one-sided.

Tests should be about testing yourself against your peers. A test match between Zimbabwe and Kenya would be a fairly even match and would generate alot more local interest than a match against Bangladesh. With local interest comes participation and grass roots movement, which leads to greater popularity and greater income from sources like television.

'Test' status should be abolished and countries should be able to compete against their peers while aspiring to compete against the top nations.
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overall yes, but don't forget some of those series that don't go to plan. last years England v NZ series were a good example. England should have dominated but did not even look to have the upper hand. This is why i like the divisional system with promotion for test cricket. Even if you have appropriate requirements like Div 1 & 2 do 5 day Div 3 & 4 do 4 day and after this it is 2 day. Quality technique and cricket strategy are taught, learn't and built in the long form of the game not in T20 hit and giggle.
 
troll3y said:
Basically, I'm just annoyed that one of my two supergraphics that I'm currently working on has effectively just become redundant.

...

ztMCHYK.png
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ehhh, I finished it anyway. I say 'finished', but I've only finished the maths and logistics -- the rest is cosmetic. Truthfully, I would often get despondent when working on this, when worrying about all the possible ways the ICC could bastardise our great game. The graphic is huge, but it should display conveniently below. Here's the direct link, if it doesn't.

k4XBsA8.png


If anyone wants the Adobe Illustrator file, by the way, just ask. (I'm sure this would have been easier and quicker to do as a Gantt chart in Excel or Project, but this has become a big part of my graphic design portfolio. When I finally finish, I might even redo this in Excel/Project, just to see how quickly it could have been done.)



Miraculously, each team either tours or is toured by every other team and there is room for the 50-over World Cup, the World Twenty20, and the Asia Cup (and an annual IPL and Champions League T20 :roll:). Each team -- including newcomers Ireland and Afghanistan, financially struggling Zimbabwe, and homesick Pakistan -- plays a minimum of 27 Tests* in the three-year Championship duration (for an average of nine Tests per calendar year). Six teams get to host six tours and travel for five, and the other six host five tours and have to travel for six. In the second Championship window, those figures will be reversed.

* Bangladesh is listed as playing 26 Tests in the Championship, but I've extended India's tour of Bangladesh from two Tests to three (at the expense of a T20), bumping Bangladesh's tally to the minimum 27.



Points to note:
  • There are three numbers in each box. A bilateral tour of (3, 5, 2) means 3 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 2 T20s. Naturally, I will include this in the legend in the graphic.
  • The graphic states that Pakistan's scheduled home tours are for their temporary home-away-from-home in the UAE, but because Pakistan's optimum cricket season lines up very well with the UAE's, all of Pakistan's scheduled home tours can be moved directly to Pakistan without the need to reschedule. I truly hope that can one day happen.
  • January 2018 sees a triangular ODI series hosted by South Africa and featuring India and Zimbabwe. The listed 10 ODIs is for the 10 games in the series including the final, so each team plays six matches (three against each opponent) then two teams will play the final. (I'm so happy to have included a triangular tournament in the calendar. If I can work out the logistics, I'm eyeing a quadrangular T20 tournament between Pakistan, NZ, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan leading up to the World T20 in January 2020.)
  • I'm making an educated guess that India will host the 2016 Asia Cup, and therefore Sri Lanka will host the 2018 edition. Honestly, that's the only option that worked. Pakistan and Afghanistan could well jointly host the Cup, but I've saved that until November 2020 in the next Test Championship window.
  • There are four Test-less whirlwind tours in the calendar, designed to be calendar-fillers and revenue-raisers for the respective home team. India's commitment to the 2018 Asia Cup delays their earliest possible arrival in England, and if Ireland's tour of England opened in May, there would have been a lengthy gap between the end of that tour and the start of India's. The West Indies (or New Zealand or South Africa) can play a few Limited Overs games to kick off England's summer in a lucrative fashion. According to the current FTP, Australia is scheduled to tour England to play the Ashes in 2019, with the Limited Overs and Test matches scheduled on either side of the World Cup. My rule is that the Ashes will be held every 2.5 years, which sets the 2019 edition back one year to 2020 after the 2017-18 Australian summer. Nonetheless, I've kept the standalone Limited Overs 2019 tour as a profitable World Cup warm-up for both teams. South Africa's 2018-19 home season is a depleted one, having hosted both high-ranking India and Australia in the year before. In a crowded calendar, South Africa can only host two Tests in their summer. This is the biggest problem in my proposed calendar so far, and I'm still looking for a solution. Sri Lanka and Ireland can play three and two ODIs respectively to help offset CSA's losses, but the lack of home Tests for the Proteas in that season is glaring.
  • I understand the need for a host Board's need for "marketable" tours, and so I've tried to keep a balance of each nation hosting both high- and low-ranking teams. For every "low-profiting" tour, I've tried to back it up with at least one that's more of a showcase (eg. NZ in 2017-18 will host Zimbabwe, then the West Indies, then England; England in 2018 hosts Ireland then India; Australia in 2018-19 hosts Ireland then Pakistan). Sometimes, though, this will lead to lopsided summers with six Tests against high-ranking opponents one year then only three Tests at home for the whole of the next.
  • That said, if a country hosts a World Cup or World T20, they will not have a full summer of cricket. At the same time, though, they will still host at least one team for a full(-ish) tour.
  • In the interest of protecting player burnout and actually treating everyone involved in touring like human beings, I've tried my utmost to keep significant gaps littered throughout the calendar. A one month gap is good, two months is great, and some teams can reap the benefits of their geographic location with a six-month break.



I'm interested to get opinions on this, even though it's really a pipe-dream at this point. What do you reckon?
 
I always worried about the future of Test cricket in New Zealand but I now believe the problem wasn't that people in New Zealand don't like Test cricket.. The problem is fans don't like going to Test cricket when the Blackcaps play like headless chickens (which we have for years).. That Test when Baz scored 302 showed that NZ still appreciates Test cricket (when the Blackcaps play well). That Auckland Test against England in 2012 doesn't count because Auckland never supports any sport or team unless they always win (All Blacks *cough cough*) :eek:.

My opinion of 'cricket fans' is the majority of them enjoy Test cricket but unfortunately most of the crowds at T20 matches and domestic games in general...are made up of 'sports fans' or 'entertainment fans' not 'cricket fans'. In other words...most of them don't have loyalty to any team nor do most of them bother with Test cricket.

Cricket struggles to pull in the same number of fans as other sports but I still think Test cricket is going to be okay because as I said most 'cricket fans' still appreciate Test cricket.
 
futureblackcap said:
I always worried about the future of Test cricket in New Zealand but I now believe the problem wasn't that people in New Zealand don't like Test cricket.. The problem is fans don't like going to Test cricket when the Blackcaps play like headless chickens (which we have for years).. That Test when Baz scored 302 showed that NZ still appreciates Test cricket (when the Blackcaps play well). That Auckland Test against England in 2012 doesn't count because Auckland never supports any sport or team unless they always win (All Blacks *cough cough*) :eek:.

My opinion of 'cricket fans' is the majority of them enjoy Test cricket but unfortunately most of the crowds at T20 matches and domestic games in general...are made up of 'sports fans' or 'entertainment fans' not 'cricket fans'. In other words...most of them don't have loyalty to any team nor do most of them bother with Test cricket.

Cricket struggles to pull in the same number of fans as other sports but I still think Test cricket is going to be okay because as I said most 'cricket fans' still appreciate Test cricket.
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Here in the UK it's a number of things as far as I can make out. (1). It's bloody expensive, I only live 25 miles outside of London (Lords and the The Oval) and a day out to go and watch 1 day of a 4 days series with my two sons cost me £100. That's 205 of your NZ dollars and that's with taking our own food and drink and doing it as cheap as possible. (2). The game is four days so 2 of the days are played during the work day - most of us here can't simply slope off work to go and watch a cricket match.

Though thinking about that though, there's a awful lot of old people in the UK at the moment and this is the richest bunch of old codgers in UK history, but they don't seem to be interested in cricket though, they're more inclined to go to a garden centre and buy Gnomes and crap? It's kind of weird, when you watch old footage of cricket matches the grounds are rammed to the rafters, or is it the case that those bits of footage are from the classic games only and if you were to go to a county ground back in the 1960's and 70's there'd have been shed loads of people - even on week days?
 
Kram81 said:
The grounds in the UK usually seem pretty full for Test matches when I see them on TV.
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Oh they always are. This year was different as people stayed away in protest at the Pietersen sacking. But next year they will be full again.
 
someblokecalleddave said:
Here in the UK it's a number of things as far as I can make out. (1). It's bloody expensive, I only live 25 miles outside of London (Lords and the The Oval) and a day out to go and watch 1 day of a 4 days series with my two sons cost me £100. That's 205 of your NZ dollars and that's with taking our own food and drink and doing it as cheap as possible. (2).
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That is expensive! Is that just London prices? In New Zealand they basically beg people to go watch Test matches ie. really cheap tickets.
 
futureblackcap said:
That is expensive! Is that just London prices? In New Zealand they basically beg people to go watch Test matches ie. really cheap tickets.
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You are just lucky over there, from memory WACA prices range from $35 - $95 for Test adult match tickets. Might also be a $6 booking fee on top of that.
 
Kram81 said:
You are just lucky over there, from memory WACA prices range from $35 - $95 for Test adult match tickets. Might also be a $6 booking fee on top of that.
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Eek. In fact, watching any form of cricket in New Zealand is pretty cheap. Last season I got a package that let me go to one ODI, one T20 match and one day of a Test match for $36.
 
I would refer you all to my earlier post that shows in Australia last summer the test crowds were better than the ODI's and T20's at almost all venues on days one and two. At a couple of venues they were equal to a day three crowd. Test cricket is preferred in Aus if you believe the crowds
 
nairbe said:
I would refer you all to my earlier post that shows in Australia last summer the test crowds were better than the ODI's and T20's at almost all venues on days one and two. At a couple of venues they were equal to a day three crowd. Test cricket is preferred in Aus if you believe the crowds
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Yes, England and Australia seem to have their priorities straight.
 
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