Is saying ‘Tests are the real thing’ only a fad?

If there is one cause celebre that appears to unite any number of cricket fans from across the globe at the moment, then it is this: that Test cricket, in all its presumed majesty, needs protecting and exalting above all else. More than 2,000 signatures have appeared on an online petition calling for a series between England and South Africa next summer to be increased from three Tests to four. The petition’s author – who has already been given a platform on radio, and diligently combs social media sites looking for support – believes the required space on the roster can be found by axing two of the five one-day internationals already scheduled. There was similar despair voiced when the champions of the five-day game looked at the format for the ongoing series between South Africa and Australia. “What’s this? Only two matches?” they gasped. [caption id=“attachment_131976” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“An empty Eden watched India take on the West Indies on Monday. AP”]  [/caption] Inevitably, anyone connected to English cricket is a de facto cheerleader for Test cricket. I’m fairly certain this is because England are traditionally quite good at Tests, and quite bad at one-day internationals – though many will disagree fiercely with me on this point. By far the most vocal fan of Test cricket in recent weeks has been a sort of honorary Englishman, Andy Flower, the Zimbabwean who coaches England. He said recently the two-Test series in South Africa was “a ridiculous situation and I’m saddened by it.” In the same interview, he said it was “a great sadness” that Sri Lanka speedster Lasith Malinga was no longer playing Test cricket. Meanwhile, he was fiercely critical of the gradual appearance of seven-match one-day series, calling them too long, “and, if they’re one sided, can be damaging for the game.” On Monday, some news was quietly released by the ICC revealing that the first Test championship would not take place in 2013 as some had hoped, but would be held back until 2017. This was immediately seized on by the Keep Tests Sacred crowd (OK, I’m not sure such a group actually exists), as well as other notable media outlets. In fact, some 24 hours after its release, the story of the delayed Test championship remained the lead article on the BBC website’s cricket index. Somewhat ironically, there was no report at all from the Test match in Kolkata – although the one-day international in Dubai was given a mention. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Test match as much as many of these people who sign these well-meaning but ultimately fairly pointless petitions. At the age of eight, in 1981, I sat spellbound in the terraces at Headingley when Ian Botham turned the third Ashes Test on its head. If I hadn’t been there, it’s possible I may never have grown to love cricket so much. But I can also enjoy a one-day international, after all there have been many brilliant ones over the years. Yes, there have been dull ones too, but equally Test matches are not exempt from sterile periods of play, sometimes lasting entire days, and sometimes dwindling away to uncontested draws. That 1981 series, by the way, featured six Test matches – unthinkable in today’s format. But unlike then, the English summer now features two home series, and overall fans get more Test match cricket, it’s just shared between more opponents. And what of this two-Test series between South Africa and Australia? Well, the fans at Newlands – even though it was a pretty special match being served up – did not exactly rush through the turnstiles. Many stands were virtually empty. You see it’s all very well these fans hiding behind their laptops bemoaning the apparent demise of Test cricket, but it’s not good enough if they don’t also turn up for the matches in person. As we well know, Indian spectators have by and large ignored most Test matches for a number of years. The anecdotal evidence is they prefer the certainty of a result that a one-day international provides, and the guarantee of seeing each side bat and bowl. And it’s no good Flower complaining about administrators packing in the ODIs and trimming down on the Tests as though pointing the finger at some faceless suits in another country. It’s his own paymasters at the England and Wales Cricket Board who help formulate the existing schedule his players are subject to. What is true is that financial considerations play a major role in dictating both the overall volume of Test cricket and its balance alongside shorter formats. Some people find this in some way distasteful. But until professional cricket discovers another way of financing itself – perhaps evolving in such a way that domestic leagues become the primary employers of the top players - this is the way it has to be.