How cricket will be different in 2024 compared to 2023? Is Test cricket truly on the decline?

It’s not even one full week into the new year yet, and cricket’s already off to an explosive start with a world record being broken on Thursday. India managed to defeat South Africa by seven wickets to register their first-ever Test victory at Cape Town’s Newlands and level a Test series in the ‘Rainbow Nation’ for only the second time since their maiden visit in 1992-93.  In the process of chasing down a modest 79-run target, the Rohit Sharma-led side would also break an all-time record in the elite format. The contest, after all, would last just 642 deliveries in a little over four sessions, nine less than the total number of balls in the Australia-South Africa Test at Melbourne in 1932, making it the shortest Test in the history of the game . **Read | India grind out not-so-perfect win in quickest Test in Cape Town** There’s an equally gripping New Year’s Test going on at the Sydney Cricket Ground , though the match will witness a fourth day. Pakistan managed to collect a slender first innings lead, only to be reduced to 68/7 in their second essay at stumps on Day 3, but still stand a chance of pulling off a first Test win on Australian soil since 1995. Besides the two-Tests, women’s cricket witnessed a demolition job at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium pulled off by world champions Australia on India in their own backyard, Alyssa Healy’s side winning by 190 runs and sweeping the three-ODI series 3-0. There’s plenty to look forward to this year as far as cricketing action is concerned. How exactly cricket be different in 2024 compared to 2023 though? Here’s more on that: How cricket will be different this year The biggest difference between 2023 and 2024 in cricketing terms is the format that will be in focus. The year 2023 was all about ODIs, with the ICC World Cup, widely considered the sport’s showpiece event, taking place in India in the months of October and November. There will be a major ODI event taking place this year as well, but at the junior level with the U-19 World Cup set to begin later this month in South Africa (which was named the host nation after the tournament was moved out of Sri Lanka by the ICC). [caption id=“attachment_13580012” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The Men’s and the Women’s T20 World Cup is set to take place in 2024 in the West Indies/USA and Bangladesh respectively. Image credit: X[/caption] The focus this year will firmly be on the shortest format with the T20 World Cup set to take place in both the men’s and women’s game. The Men’s T20 World Cup takes place in the month of June, with the tournament returning to the Caribbean for the first time since 2010. Only this time the United States will also play host, making it the first time in cricketing history that a multi-nation event featuring some of the world’s top-ranked sides is set to take place on American soil. The India-Pakistan match is reportedly set to take place in New York City in what could be the biggest cricketing game on American soil ever. The Women’s T20 World Cup, on the other hand, takes place in Bangladesh reportedly in the months of September and October, with the ICC yet to confirm details of the schedule. What will happen to Test cricket? There’s been plenty of talk surrounding the future of the elite five-day format, which only 12 nations currently play although it’s the ‘Big Three’ that currently don the lion’s share of Tests. Fears of cricket’s future only deepened after South Africa's controversial squad announcement for the tour of New Zealand, in which they named a rookie squad comprising seven uncapped players, one of whom is set to lead the team on Test debut. **Read | Waugh slams ‘lack of respect' for NZ after SA announce second-string squad** India face England and Australia in four to five Tests both home and away, but the fact that they couldn’t play a third in the Proteas’ backyard is what might send the wrong message. Does that mean Test cricket will get further sidelined this year compared to 2023? That England are set to arrive in India for a five-Test series starting the 25th of this month, that too in a T20 World Cup year, certainly suggests otherwise. There were 34 Tests that took place last year. 19 of them have been confirmed for this year so far up until the English summer, with teams such as West Indies and Sri Lanka set to travel to England for three Tests each. West Indies also will be visiting Australia for a Test series — which used to be a fairly common occurrence back in the day but has become increasingly rare in recent times — after Pakistan’s visit. [caption id=“attachment_13273332” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Ben Stokes is set to arrive in India for the first time as Test captain this month. AP[/caption] And speaking of Australia, they are headed to New Zealand for a two-Test series right after South Africa, and one can surely expect them to field a full-strength side, unlike the Proteas. There will be more fixtures confirmed later in the year, with India reportedly set to tour Australia later this year. So Test cricket remains very much part of the discussion at the moment even if the focus will remain on the shorter formats. The ICC and the leading nations, however, will still have to do more to safeguard the five-day format’s interests and ensure its survival in an age where attention spans are shorter than ever and the death of the classic format appears inevitable.