I have to come clean, I got it wrong

[nightprowler10]

From purely monetary point of view, it will be better if test cricket died. How can it "harm" the progress of cricket? Test cricket is a dinosaur living on past glory in my opinion.

(Runs)

Banworthy IMO.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Juxtaposition. OMG!!!

Banworthy IMO.

Seconded. Can we stone him?

 

[aditya123]

I'd take colored clothes over Stuart Broad any day in test cricket.

I digress though.

Sohum has valid points. Test cricket indeed remains the pinnacle of cricket. Yes, that's absolutely true.

But does it really matter?

It's like "The king is dead, long live the king" statement.

Test cricket belongs to another era altogether. Like all good things, I believe it has run it;s course and must come to a gracious end. It is surviving solely on the artificial life support system provided by ICC and the home boards of a few nations, with virtually not even 1% of the T20 crowd's patronage.

I hate to see Test cricket going out.

If Test Cricket does die and T20s and ODIs become the premier formats of the game, you could kiss goodbye to the `classical batsman`. Someone in the mould of a Tendulkar, Dravid, Mark Waugh, Laxman or a Michael Vaughan will become an extinct species. My interest would wane if it happens.

In my opinion I still feel Test Cricket will not directly get affected by the T20 frenzy. In theory, it should only bring more tempo to the sport and there by making the batsmen more adventurous and hence facilitating a result. The fact that such a direct correlation won`t work is because of some of the pitches that we get for Test matches. Why not fine the groundsman/host board for preparing atrocious pitches? Have a monitoring committee who evaluates test pithes and rates them after each game.

If all of these are done, I don`t think Test Cricket will be directly affected by the T20 glitz, but I do feel ODI cricket will. If we take the two sets of fans to be entirely exclusive, If I were purely an ODI fan, I would much rather go for a T20 if Iam looking for a result in a single day than go for a 50-over game. However, the test cricket loyalist would never do that.

Coming back to the lack of crowd issue, I think the time has come for us to decide which grounds we allot test matches to (outside of England and Aus). It cannot be simply on the basis of a rotation policy which is followed in the ODIs in India. It will work for ODI cricket but Test Cricket must be played in venues with a history of test cricket and places where Test cricket is loved. Say for instance, you could restrict test cricket to Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi and Bangalore/Kanpur in India. These are the venues where fans turn up in large numbers for test matches ( you only have to look up to the crowds for the recent India-England test at Chennai to know what Iam talking about). These have also been India`s more result oriented venues than say venues like Mohali, Nagpur or Ahmedabad.
You could rotate ODI cricket`s venues but Test cricket must stay with the big centres (like in Australia). You never see test matches at Darwin or Cairns during the Aussie test summer, so why play tests at Ahmedabad and Mohali?

aditya123 added 2 Minutes and 24 Seconds later...

I agree with your point about making pitches more condusive to results, and a slight advantage for the home side, but I don't agree with your choice of analogy.

The Rolling Stones analogy falls down in that they've made almost zero attempt to appeal to the younger audiences. They've only made 1 new studio album in the last 12 years, and they're not aiming their music at the mainstream and the younger chart listeners anymore. Test Cricket is. It's quite heavily advertised on British TV on Sky, and they show alot of Test cricket. It's not like T20's the only form of cricket getting exposure, with Test cricket being this secret, vintage form of the game. Test cricket is still getting massive exposure, and bar the last England-Windies series', the attendance figures in England have been very high in the last few years, with alot of youngsters attending.

I also disagree with your point regarding Test cricket having to make itself interesting, as frankly, there have been some very, very good Test series in the last few years. I've also watched some very, very good Test matches in the last 12 months. The Australia-South Africa series was excellent, as was the England-India series. Sure there have been a few dull matches, but I still find 90% of Test matches far more exciting than T20 cricket. There are the odd awesome T20 games, but I still prefer Test and ODi cricket, and find it far more interesting.

Different strokes for different folks though I guess. Purely upto personal preference.

Agreed!!!!

 

[King Cricket]

It will work for ODI cricket but Test Cricket must be played in venues with a history of test cricket and places where Test cricket is loved. Say for instance, you could restrict test cricket to Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi and Bangalore/Kanpur in India. These are the venues where fans turn up in large numbers for test matches ( you only have to look up to the crowds for the recent India-England test at Chennai to know what Iam talking about). These have also been India`s more result oriented venues than say venues like Mohali, Nagpur or Ahmedabad.

Quite a valid point. The last time there was a good crowd in a test match played inside India- it was at the Eden Gardens, India vs Pakistan, December 2007. The stadium was at least 65 to 70 percent full almost everyday. I am saying this because I actually visited Eden in the third day of that match. Fantastic atmosphere, with a more or less a decent crowd. Yet, see- Eden has not got a single test match since then. Which just shows how unprofessional the BCCI policy makers are.

 

[Precambrian]

If Test Cricket does die and T20s and ODIs become the premier formats of the game, you could kiss goodbye to the `classical batsman`. Someone in the mould of a Tendulkar, Dravid, Mark Waugh, Laxman or a Michael Vaughan will become an extinct species. My interest would wane if it happens.

In my opinion I still feel Test Cricket will not directly get affected by the T20 frenzy. In theory, it should only bring more tempo to the sport and there by making the batsmen more adventurous and hence facilitating a result. The fact that such a direct correlation won`t work is because of some of the pitches that we get for Test matches. Why not fine the groundsman/host board for preparing atrocious pitches? Have a monitoring committee who evaluates test pithes and rates them after each game.

If all of these are done, I don`t think Test Cricket will be directly affected by the T20 glitz, but I do feel ODI cricket will. If we take the two sets of fans to be entirely exclusive, If I were purely an ODI fan, I would much rather go for a T20 if Iam looking for a result in a single day than go for a 50-over game. However, the test cricket loyalist would never do that.

Coming back to the lack of crowd issue, I think the time has come for us to decide which grounds we allot test matches to (outside of England and Aus). It cannot be simply on the basis of a rotation policy which is followed in the ODIs in India. It will work for ODI cricket but Test Cricket must be played in venues with a history of test cricket and places where Test cricket is loved. Say for instance, you could restrict test cricket to Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi and Bangalore/Kanpur in India. These are the venues where fans turn up in large numbers for test matches ( you only have to look up to the crowds for the recent India-England test at Chennai to know what Iam talking about). These have also been India`s more result oriented venues than say venues like Mohali, Nagpur or Ahmedabad.
You could rotate ODI cricket`s venues but Test cricket must stay with the big centres (like in Australia). You never see test matches at Darwin or Cairns during the Aussie test summer, so why play tests at Ahmedabad and Mohali?

aditya123 added 2 Minutes and 24 Seconds later...



Agreed!!!!

I agree completely on your excellent idea to restrict test cricket in India to select centres like Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and perhaps Mohali, Nagpur. The first four are tried and trusted centres and have guaranteed 100% crowd in the past. The latter 2 are the best in India as far as infrastructure is concerned. In a year, India play about 6 tests on an average in India.

Precambrian added 0 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

Banworthy IMO.

Catch me if you can first though!...

 

[aditya123]

Quite a valid point. The last time there was a good crowd in a test match played inside India- it was at the Eden Gardens, India vs Pakistan, December 2007. The stadium was at least 65 to 70 percent full almost everyday. I am saying this because I actually visited Eden in the third day of that match. Fantastic atmosphere, with a more or less a decent crowd. Yet, see- Eden has not got a single test match since then. Which just shows how unprofessional the BCCI policy makers are.

Absolutely, a 70% full Eden Gardens is a 50,000 crowd. I think Chennai has the best crowds for test cricket. They turn up in huge numbers for almost every test match.I think you missed the last test in Chennai (Dec 08) when the Chennai crowd came out in huge numbers to thank the great gesture by the English side to return to India for the test series. They saw some high-quality cricket, a historic run-chase and that was mainly a tribute to the nature of the pitch.

aditya123 added 3 Minutes and 14 Seconds later...

I agree completely on your excellent idea to restrict test cricket in India to select centres like Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and perhaps Mohali, Nagpur. The first four are tried and trusted centres and have guaranteed 100% crowd in the past. The latter 2 are the best in India as far as infrastructure is concerned. In a year, India play about 6 tests on an average in India.

I disagree with you on that. Mohali has had more than its fair share of chances but the crowds and the pitches for test cricket have both been pathetic. Nagpur used to have an enthusiastic fan following but with the new venue, although a superb one is too far away from the city for people to turn up in big numbers.

I think all of the suggestions in this thread are absolutely implementable but the ICC has to take a firm stand on it. They must step up and dictate/monitor the quality of wickets. Test Cricket is a premium quality product and it must not die due to some boards wanting to make more money or due to inability of a groundsman to prepare good wickets.

aditya123 added 11 Minutes and 51 Seconds later...

On another note, can the mods/admins just put up a poll on `What kind of a cricket fan are you- T20, Tests or ODIs' and make it a sticky thread so that most of those who visit our forums vote there. Even if half of our huge number of members vote, we`ll get an idea as to where cricket is heading. It would be a sizable sample size if you consider the fact that most of the cricketing nations are well represented here (we even have a couple of Americans in here). If we could get it done and get a decent number of people voting, it could end up being a good survey. We could try and send emails and PMs to members requesting them to vote.
We could even bring to to the ICC`s notice. I`ve already sent an email to the ICC to take a look at the suggestions posted here.

 

[sohum]

Yet, see- Eden has not got a single test match since then. Which just shows how unprofessional the BCCI policy makers are.

That probably has something to do with the factional politics between the BCCI and Dalmiya's crew in Bengal. And also the fact that the crowd at Eden actually booed India and supported South Africa in a Test match just because Ganguly was dropped from the squad.

 

[King Cricket]

^ Yup. This is what you call "dirty politics".

And also the fact that the crowd at Eden actually booed India and supported South Africa in a Test match just because Ganguly was dropped from the squad.

That wasn't a test match actually. That was an ODI played between India and South Africa immediately after Ganguly was dropped. And though I admit that the crowd didn't do a right thing, but still, India's lackluster performance batting first just added fire to the gunpowder. And which angered the crowd the most, is that, Greg Chappell, India's then coach, standing near the Eden dressing room door, made some gestures at the Eden crowd which meant abuse after India's innings was over. We all know how moody the Kolkata crowd is, and these things just angered the crowd more and more, and finally this anger burst out when South Africa's innings started. People started booing the Indian team, shouting at Dravid, hurling abuses at Chappell, and the whole stadium stood up and started cheering for Greame Smith. Chappell also has to share a part of the blame for this incident.

PS, a very strange co-incidence happened that day. When that ODI was on, Ganguly was playing a domestic match for Bengal. In that match, Ganguly ended up scoring a 150. And the whole India team could manage just some 140 or something in the ODI, 9 runs short of what a singe man, Ganguly had scored that day!!

 

[Skater]

I can't remember the last time I was on edge like that watching cricket. Probably Trent Bridge 2005.

 

[King Pietersen]

First time for me since England vs Sri Lanka in the WC in 2007. Was the first time that Bopara really showed his skills, but he couldn't quite pull of a remarkable victory. I just remember Dilhara Fernando not letting the ball go before the last ball of the game, just built that anticipation further. Really was an excellent game that.

 

[Skater]

First time for me since England vs Sri Lanka in the WC in 2007. Was the first time that Bopara really showed his skills, but he couldn't quite pull of a remarkable victory. I just remember Dilhara Fernando not letting the ball go before the last ball of the game, just built that anticipation further. Really was an excellent game that.

Oh yeah, I remember that. That's me as well. I felt Fernando was unsporting not letting the ball go.

 

[King Pietersen]

Yeh, was a little unsporting, but added to the theatre of the moment which was good. Was just a shame that Rav couldn't pull off a win. It was that game that really got me into ODi cricket, wasn't much of a fan prior to that, although I did enjoy the CB Series victory over Australia, obviously.

 

[aditya123]

I can't remember the last time I was on edge like that watching cricket. Probably Trent Bridge 2005.

Not even yesterday ?

aditya123 added 3 Minutes and 18 Seconds later...

First time for me since England vs Sri Lanka in the WC in 2007. Was the first time that Bopara really showed his skills, but he couldn't quite pull of a remarkable victory. I just remember Dilhara Fernando not letting the ball go before the last ball of the game, just built that anticipation further. Really was an excellent game that.

And that was long before Martin Guptill`s name was even taken on this forums!

 

[Skater]

Not even yesterday ?

I can't remember the last time I was on edge like that watching cricket. Probably Trent Bridge 2005.

I was talking about yesterday.

 

[aditya123]

I was talking about yesterday.

I missed the context and the time you posted it. My mistake.