Is Test Cricket In Danger?

By Keith Barret

There has been a lot of talk recently that suggests that there are real problems ahead for Test Match cricket. These dangers appear to be caused by a combination of the increased popularity of Twenty-20 cricket and falling crowds at Test Matches in some parts of the world.

So let's take a look at some of these issues and see what's going on. One point to note is that more and more money is being pumped into the game in India, increasing the importance of this country massively in cricketing terms. It's also the country that has the greatest number of cricket fans in the world.

This is having a big impact on the game as a whole. The great success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has brought vibrant matches to a large, worldwide audience. It's also clear that crowd levels at Test Matches in India appear to be much lower than those for IPL and other limited overs forms of the game. But does this necessarily indicate problems ahead?

The situation here in England is somewhat different. There's no doubt that Twenty-20 has made a big impact on the domestic game. Crowds have been much larger for these matches than they have in the 4-day County Championship matches. So this might indicate that the longer form of the game is certainly at risk.

Yet nothing is as simple as it may seem. Although county sides may indeed be struggling to attract large attendances to their County Championship contests, it seems that the national team are having no such problems. Attendances at Test cricket here in the UK tend to be impressive and tickets are in high demand.

So what is going? It seems clear that there are different approaches to the game in different parts of the world. Limited overs cricket is really capturing the attention in some parts of the world but Test Match cricket remains the primary form of the game for some viewers, especially in England and Australia.

Is this to be the end for Test Match cricket? It seems hard to believe that it possibly could be, although different countries may place more emphasis on particular forms of the game. There could be associated risks with this, but it may be best that we all simply accept that the newest form of the game provides new opportunities and helps to bring more people into the game.

Anything that makes cricket more popular has to be a good thing. One important set of people in all of this will be the players themselves. As long as they still see Test cricket as being important, it seems certain that this form of the game will continue.

Keith Barrett has written about cricket for a number of publications.