A truly long affair

Test cricket tries the patience of viewers and players alike, with few changes in the format.

Chris Gayle is being crucified; he should be lauded. The West Indies captain has punctured the decades-old myth that for players Test cricket is a much-cherished format. In fact, Gayle, though he doesn’t really move his feet while batting, went several steps ahead and said he “wouldn’t be so sad” if Test cricket died, and that he would be happy to ply his trade in Twenty20 cricket.

That has raised the hackles of many of his fellow players, especially those who have built their careers in the Test arena. The noises are familiar, as they have remained the same for years. Test cricket, they say, is the ultimate test of a player’s skills.

That can be debated. What cannot perhaps is that it is also a test of spectators’ patience, and sometimes of the players’ as well (when a team batting first is three down for 500 after 175 overs, the fielding team merely goes through the motions).

It has not helped that the five-day format has remained largely the same for 132 years. It has undergone some changes, but they have been mostly circumstantial (for example, a faster scoring rate and better fielding due to the influence of limited-overs cricket). In the meantime, limited-overs cricket has come, won spectators and brought in money. According to reports, a Professional Cricketers’ Association survey last year confirmed that more than a third of English first-class players would consider retiring early to play in IPL. Responding to a March survey by the Australian Cricketers’ Association, fewer than half of Australia’s elite cricketers thought representing their country would be the ultimate professional accolade. It may have something to do with the fact that six weeks of IPL can earn most players more than they would make for the rest of the year.

There is so much cricket these days, a format has to be special if it has to survive. Test cricket needs more than a tacit agreement among players to keep the façade of Test cricket’s supremacy. The crowds have dwindled alarmingly over the years. England against Australia is perhaps the only line-up that can fill a ground these days. India-Pakistan is as good as dead, for now at least.

There have been anecdotes of people refusing to believe that even after five days of toil, a match may not throw up a winner. Why not address that first? If the weather holds, a Test match should see at least 450 overs over five days. It may be a good idea to cap the number of overs at 125 for the first innings for each team and 100 for the second.