How to kill Test Cricket— ask the curators

Being a cricket aficionado I adore test matches. I still consider it to be the purest form of the game and one were great cricketers are differentiated from good cricketers. However, of late watching test matches has become an arduous task and it no longer captivates me. With the advent of T20; test cricket seems to be losing its sheen throughout the world. Hastening the decline is the quality of pitches being dished out for test matches across the world. Pitches across the world have gotten increasingly batsman friendly and there is seldom a contest that provides an equitable contest between bat and ball. The pitches for the India-New Zealand test series, Sri Lanka-West Indies Series and the ongoing ashes tests stand testimony to this. India which was once hailed as the land of spinners rarely produces a track that offers any kind of assistance to the spinners and somebody like Harbhajan Singh had to publicly criticize the quality of pitches and make a request for tracks which provide greater assistance for bowlers of his breed. The once dreaded wickets in Caribbean have become propitious to the batsmen and are probably one of the best places for batsmen to pile on runs. The pitches in England, New Zealand known for their assistance to medium pacers have gotten flatter too. Australia which was known for its penchant to provide tracks which produced results has also joined the bandwagon. The first ashes test was played on a track which was so benign that batsman from both the sides piled on the runs and the game meandered to a predictable draw.

With more and more games getting predictable and the result almost certain by the end of the third or the fourth day, the excitement in the game is completely washed out. An American was stupefied when he came to know that test cricket was played for five days and still games ended without a result. One of the primary reasons why tracks have gotten increasingly benevolent has to do with the demands of broadcasters who after paying huge sums of money to the cricket boards, are highly distraught when the matches get over within three or four days. They face huge financial losses and are increasingly demanding pitches that remain innocuous for over five days.

Bowlers around the world are feeling the pinch, they have become more prone to injuries because of the volume of cricket that is being played and also due to the nature of the tracks they get to bowl on. They need to exert themselves really hard to get the better of the batsman and the increased effort coupled with the lack of inadequate resting periods have made them highly susceptible to ailments.

The lack of a fair contest between bat and ball has afflicted cricket at its grassroots too. Increasingly the motivation to become a bowler amongst the younger crop is fading away and this has had a direct impact on the quality of bowlers coming through.

However, the need of the hour is not tracks where the ball turns square from day two or tracks where bowlers run through line-ups within hours. What we require is tracks that provide an even contest between bat and ball.

The ICC needs to take stock of this situation and device a mechanism similar to the one that addresses the issue of tracks that are deemed too dangerous for the game to go on. Tracks that are deemed too benign to bowl on must also be dealt with in the same vein. This would ensure that curators take sufficient care in preparing quality pitches and thus ensure an equable contest. Cricket boards across the world, must also take into account the long term prospect of the game before awarding broadcasting contracts. The clout being enjoyed by broadcasters in deciding the nature of the pitches has to be dealt with strongly. Only when there is a level playing field, the level of uncertainty in the game increases and more people are fascinated by the game. Test cricket is hailed as the mother of all forms of cricket and sufficient care must be taken to prevent it from losing its sheen.