Test Cricket Will Never Die

Shashank Manohar, the ICC chairman, might feel that test cricket is dying. However, the chief executive for global cricket, David Richardson, states that he has numbers to prove that the statement from Manohar is entirely wrong. According to Richardson, after an ICC survey was conducted in 2018, Test cricket has a committed and active fan base of approximately 700 million. This is around 68% of the fan pool on a global scale of more than a billion.

World Test Championship

Without countering the ICC chairman. Richardson stated that Manohar was merely suggesting that Test cricket is dying for a context, and the upcoming World Test Championship will be able to provide that context.

“We are attempting to see if the Test championship will be able to generate interest,” Manohar stated during a visit to Bangladesh that took place earlier this month. “Because Test cricket is essentially dying if I need to be completely honest.”

Manohar also stated that cricket fans find it extremely difficult to attend a five-day match. Therefore much instead prefer to watch a T20 game which only lasts around 4 hours. The T20 cricket format has managed to generate keen interest from broadcasters which has been based on the television rating points.

The comments made by Manohar seemed a bit misplaced if you take into account that Test cricket was the centre of attention when it came to significant results and thrilling contests. Consider the match between India and Australia or when the West Indies managed to beat England is a shocking 2-1 win. You can also include Sri Lanka becoming the first Asian team to claim victory in South Africa during a Test series.

However, the format still lacks context that will make fans sit up and notice these matches that don’t involve their favourite teams, according to Richardson. This is something that the World Test Championship will be able to provide.

Comments from David Richardson

“What Manohar was trying to say about Test cricket is that it’s calling for more context.” David Richardson stated to reporters recently in London, during the countdown to the Cricket World Cup. “Some phenomenal matches occur from time to time. However, unless you consider yourself a die-hard fan of all participating teams in the cricketing world, that particular series didn’t have much interest on a global scale.

“Thanks to the introduction of the WTC, that adds far more interests. Assisting in promoting Test cricket around the world, regardless of who is playing on that day. This is what Manohar was trying to say: Test cricket simply needed an extra boost and needs to be promoted which the WTC will hopefully achieve.”

“Perhaps the way fans are following Test cricket is very different to how it was two decades ago. However, I don’t believe it’s dying. Thankfully, the World Test Championship will offer more interest and context to Test cricket which will give it the much-needed boost it deserves.