Paul Lewis: Time for a new reality as test cricket is on life support

The Black Caps will host South Africa in a two-test series next month. Photo / Photosport

OPINION

The Black Caps’ test series against a weakened South Africa squad could be the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning, writes Paul Lewis.

Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh is dead right. New Zealand Cricket should say thanks, but no thanks, to the South African C test team due here next month – and cancel the tour.

They almost certainly won’t. NZC doesn’t have a huge record of defiance over the years, there are commitments to be honoured, and whether even a weakened South African side might beat the Black Caps anyway isn’t the point. There’s a principle at play larger than World Test Championship points – and the Aussies seem more upset about it than Kiwis.

There’ve been predictions of the death of test cricket for decades – but the imminent arrival of this depleted South African team in New Zealand, full of no-names and those who previously carried the prefix “former”, suggests decay is more advanced than we thought.

T20 is the villain, of course. South Africa’s big guns, who recently whopped India by an innings and 32 runs, will be playing in their home T20 competition instead. The local franchises are owned by India’s all-powerful IPL – but this isn’t just your common or garden T20 money grab by cricket authorities and players. Cricket South Africa says the T20 competition is a vital fundraiser for the country’s ailing first-class programme, though it remains to be seen whether giving T20 prominence over test cricket is a viable strategy, not to mention the final destination for the money earned.

It’s all too easy for the South Africans and others (like the West Indies) to shun the World Test Championship and test match cricket – supposedly the apex of the game – to play in T20 competitions. The game simply accepts it. You hear coaches and administrators mouth platitudes like “the reality is test cricket needs support; the money has to come from somewhere”.

Time for a new reality, then. Test cricket is on life support. There are already many examples of cricketers not bothering with tests, basing careers solely on the more lucrative white-ball versions. Cricket’s future tours programme reveals the migration in full flow. From 2027-2031, there are six combined white-ball World Cups and five IPLs. In that same period, only six five-test series are set to take place anywhere in the world, while South Africa have just two three-test series scheduled between now and 2031. Little wonder T20 is taking prominence there; the World Test Championship metaphorically stuffed into the old sock drawer.

So cricket bodies around the world run their own T20 contests to bring in money, supposedly to keep the test game afloat. But outside of the Ashes and five-test series involving India, most series now are only two tests long. There is little promotion, little anticipation, little passion and enthusiasm and even fewer attendees. The pinnacle of the game?

Surely, as Waugh says, the game must incentivise test cricket by offering more money to top players. It might not be dead yet but you get the feeling palliative care is not far away. The money, eyeballs, care and concern are elsewhere.

And, yes, all things change and maybe test cricket has become largely the preserve of fans of more senior years who admire the traditions and the legacies – but the game must not turn away from its most intellectual and strategic form.

It already has, in many ways. Which upcoming players would spend their time honing the defensive techniques needed in test cricket, compared to the riches and exposure available in IPL, where they can go out to bat holding a small tree on pitches favouring batters? Daryl Mitchell would have to play tests for 100 years to earn the $2.7 million he earned overnight in the IPL auction.

Daryl Mitchell fetched a hefty price in the IPL auction. Photo / Photosport

T20 hasn’t been all bad. It can be exhilarating watching a talented batter boom the ball to, and over, all points of the ground – even if too much of a good thing can erode its value. A study by the University of Derby last year looked at test cricket over the 2000-2020 period, specifically to see what effect T20 was having on the five-day game. It analysed nearly 700 matches involving the top eight nations in the world.

It found more sixes were being scored; positive tactics gained from T20s saw fewer tests ending in draws (23.5 per cent in 2000; 6.4 per cent in 2020). Run rates increased for five countries (India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka), remained constant for one team (West Indies), and decreased for two teams (Australia, England).

Last year the Silver Ferns and supporters criticised a second-string England netball team containing none of those who scuttled New Zealand hopes in the netball World Cup semifinal earlier – only for the Ferns to embarrassingly lose the first test. There are plenty of other examples of underdogs giving more exalted opposition nasty wounds.

Netball bounced back. Will test cricket if South Africa’s nobodies play their two tests here in February?

This series may be the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. Either way, the Black Caps better win or they’ll all be doing it soon - a torrent of test teams of lesser talent sent to New Zealand, and elsewhere. The Black Caps are not just playing for World Test Championship points; there’s more at stake.