Jawaharlal Nehru might have been talking about the various formats of the game of cricket when he said, “The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up move down.”
Not so recently, the 50-over format was being pronounced dead as the Twenty20 format captured everybody’s imagination.
The recent Cricket World Cup has breathed life back into the game’s second oldest format although it has posed more questions than it has answered. Cricket’s conundrum of how to manage three different formats has become even more confounding.
Despite the success of the shortest mode, it would be a huge mistake to let 50-over cricket die because Test cricket is on life-support in many parts of the world.
Future game50/50 cricket could become the Test cricket of the future for many countries who do not have the resources, either financially or human, to compete against England, Australia, India and South Africa.
Pakistan may be the exception. Against the odds, it still produces teams that are competitive because it keeps throwing up good pace bowlers to go with its talented batsmen. Staying the course for the full five days and for a series is its big challenge.
England and Australia have the longest history of Test cricket, and the format is relatively healthy in both countries, especially when they play each other, but most other countries are struggling to field competitive teams and to attract crowds, even if they do.
One of the main reasons that Test cricket has credence in England and Australia, apart from nearly 140 years of history, is that the players still strive to represent their country in the 5-day game. T20, as yet, has not changed this desire to play the most testing of the three formats.
I can’t say the same for all countries. For many of the financially challenged regions, their players don’t get enough Test cricket and don’t get paid well enough for what they do play, to have the same attitude. For many of them, T20 cricket is the golden goose that could secure their future, so they are understandably drawn to it and away from Test cricket.
Unless the custodians of the game can change the incentive base of the game, I can see a time in the not- too-distant future when most countries will opt out of Test cricket altogether, or be forced out because no one will be able to afford to play against them - other than occasionally, away from home.
If we want Test cricket to survive, the cricket community must do more to ensure those that do play it, keep doing so.
The West Indies is a moot case in point.
Once a powerhouse, the Caribbeans are struggling to remain competitive at the Test level; it is nearly too late, but something must be done to urgently resurrect the grassroots of the game in the region or the West Indies may never be competitive again, in the most demanding style of the game.
As for the 50-over game, it will be interesting to see what comes of the field restrictions, in future? No doubt, the change in field restrictions will come up for discussion, but that shouldn’t be all that is done.
While the limitation on the number of fielders outside the circle made for more runs being scored, I am not sure that is in the best interest of the format.
The other thing that more fielders out of the circle will mean is that the balance between bat and ball will be closer, which one would hope would lead to closer games. To get the balance even more even, I believe the best bowlers should be able to bowl more overs.
There is no restriction on batsmen, so I think the best bowlers should be able to have more influence on the contest. My view is that three bowlers should be able to bowl a maximum of 12 overs each and two more to bowl a maximum of seven overs. This would keep the scores at a level that will not blow teams away
We have all wondered what effect T20 would have on the other formats and I think that was obvious to all, during this edition of the Cricket World Cup.
T20 has opened the mind of batsmen to such an extent that 10 an over, or more, is not daunting over the short term, if one has wickets in hand. Equally, it has forced bowlers to come up with more variations to try to keep the batsmen in check.
With some minor tweaking of the rules, and a World Championship based on results over a four-year period, I believe the 50-over game can reclaim a strong position in the cricket calendar.
Associate countries could then be given an incentive to perform well enough over that time to qualify for the next World Cup, which will feature less teams and a streamlined schedule, which should be a positive.
But, none of it will mean a thing if we allow Test cricket to wither and die. It will need major surgery to find a way to revive what might seem to some agnostics as an anachronistic format, which they may believe, has seen its best days.
No matter how successful the 50 over and 20 over formats are, and no matter how much money Boards and individuals may make playing the shorter formats, cricket without Test cricket is not really cricket at all.
