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Tests not popular

Test cricket has no god-given right to exist, writes Peter Roebuck

No wonder only a small percentage Indian cricket followers name Test cricket as their favourite form of the game. Ahmedabad was about as exciting as a race between tortoises. Presumably Test cricket has a death wish. It is supposed to be a contest between bat and ball not an exhibition of run scoring staged on a pitch so lopsided that leather flingers were turned into bowling machines.

Test cricket has produced another stalemate. Critics of the genre must be laughing. Rival sports must shake their heads in disbelief.

Test cricket has no god-given right to exist. As a matter of urgency it needs to shake off its lethargy. Crowds have dwindled in most countries. Without atmosphere Test cricket loses most of its sting. Genius does not thrive in a vacuum. Greatness cannot respond to empty stands. And if Test cricket dies what is left? It is the kingdom of cricketing dreams. Or it was.

Alarmed by the state of affairs, the MCC recently asked a distinguished think-tank including luminaries like Steve Waugh and Rahul Dravid to study the problems and make recommendations likely to stop the slide. These experts commissioned a report from a pollster more used to predicting election results. The conclusions destroyed all complacency.

Traditionalists had assumed that Test cricket had retained a core of popularity. Connoisseurs compared it to classical music, a timeless form that could look upon pop music and film scores in the manner of a benign grandparent contemplating a naughty child. Was not Test cricket magnificent and eternal in its own right?

Gloomy picture

Instead the pollsters painted a gloomy picture. Cricket has eaten itself. Amongst Indian enthusiasts, only seven per cent named five-day matches as their preferred format. Admittedly that is still a lot of people. Moreover 20-over cricket may have increased the overall pool. Still the empty grounds confirm that Test cricket is in trouble. Elsewhere 12 per cent of South Africans and 19 per cent of Kiwis put Tests on top of the list. It’s no use blaming T20. Clearly the best loved form of the game has become the least popular. Test cricket needs to work a lot harder to recapture its prime position. And it can start by recognising its own failings, not least the dreadful way it has treated its backers. Asked to find the reasons for the decline, the pollsters discovered that many supporters were put off by the timing and ticket prices. Slow pitches and over-rates appeared further down the list. Indian supporters have voted with their feet. Nagpur was a case in point.

Although the series with Australia was tight and Sachin Tendulkar was a few runs away from a record, the stands were almost empty. But, then, single tickets were not allowed. Supporters had to fork out for all five days.

Besides they had to pay transport costs, spend all days under a burning sun and manage without refreshments. Small wonder so few turned up. Ahmedabad suggests that old habits de hard. In that case Test cricket does not deserve to survive.

The greatness of the game will be buried with the current generation.

Test cricket needs to fight back. And it needs to start today.

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