Test cricket constantly undermined

The news that Sri Lanka will not play any Test Matches next year other than some games against Bangladesh was shocking indeed. Sri Lanka’s proposed Test tour of West Indies has been done away with and instead the teams will be involved in a tri-nation competition also involving India, we are told.

Test cricket in Sri Lanka has been severely affected due to mushrooming T-20 leagues. A period of almost three months have been allocated to various T-20 leagues such as IPL, SLPL and Champions League and other emerging T-20 tournaments such as the Big Bash League in Australia and the one planned in USA will only make things worse. Players of course will get richer, but the game largely will get poorer. In years to come, cricket following the footsteps of games like football becoming a club oriented competition and not country versus country is a possibility that cannot be ruled out.

Already country’s Test cricket has paid a heavy price to IPL due to the greed of a minority and mismanagement. To put the record straight, Sri Lanka’s Test tour to England in 2009 was scrapped due to IPL while this year’s Test series against them was cut to two from three Tests due to the same reason. Sri Lanka’s next visit to England in 2014 will only have two Tests instead of three.

This year Sri Lanka and India were supposed to play a three match Test series. But it was converted into a five match ODI series and a T-20 International to generate more income to the board.

Another question that comes to the equation is whether the Future Tour Programme (FTP) makes any sense. Initially it was a case of all countries playing a Test series against each of the nine opponents at least once in a cycle of five years. That was tinkered with sometime back.

In 2012, Sri Lanka played nine Test Matches while in 2011 the national team played 11 Test Matches. That’s some consolation. But the problem is, the World Test Championship is coming up in 2015 in England and only the top four ranked teams qualify to play.

Currently Sri Lanka are ranked number six in Test cricket. Only by playing stronger teams and not the likes of New Zealand and Bangladesh, the team can improve on its current ranking. So the scrapped home Test series against India would have helped. The additional home Test against England that was done away with due to IPL could have helped too.

Leading up the World Test Championship, Sri Lanka has some tough assignments such as Australia, Pakistan, England and South Africa, teams that are ranked above them and a good showing in these contests will help them improve on their current ranking and be in good shape for 2015.

But both players and administrators need to do more to safeguard Test cricket. A genuine effort needs to be made if the future of Test cricket needs to be nurtured and that form of the game to remain a hit among fans. A slot for Sri Lanka in the World Test Championship will help fans to get more attracted to Test cricket. That’s one way of saving the longer version of the game.

By Rex Clementine
Source: Island (Sri Lanka)