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The future of Tests
'Stop overkill of cricket on TV' - Sangakkara
Cricinfo staff
March 11, 2010
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Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has called for several changes to increase the popularity of five-day cricket, including paying Test players significantly more and not broadcasting the game in the city hosting the game until a large crowd turns up at the ground. Speaking on Cricinfo's video show Opening Up, Sangakkara also said every country should have an iconic series like the Ashes to draw spectators to the stadiums.
There has been plenty of talk over the decline of Tests, but Sangakkara said it was premature to write the format's obituary. "Everyone is talking about Test cricket dying. Maybe we are pre-empting its death and trying to kill it before its time," he said. "When it comes to players, they value playing the five-day version a lot more than they do any other version."
With a lot more money on offer in lucrative Twenty20 leagues such as the IPL, he stated that salaries of Test specialists should be hiked substantially. "Paying a match fee for playing a Test match that is 10% more than for a Twenty20, or a one-day game or 50% more doesn't cut it," he said. "Test cricket should be given its premium position by paying a premium amount for players who play only Test cricket sometimes."
Test cricket is packing stadiums only in England and a handful of cities over the world, something which Sangakkara felt could change if there were changes in way television broadcasted the game. "Stop overkill of cricket on television. We can't have 24-hour cricket channels and still expect people to come and watch it at the ground," he said. "Not telecasting the match to a particular city until they have an acceptable crowd at the ground [as they do in Australia is the right thing to do]."
The Ashes have been one series which have been extremely well attended, with many grounds being sold out in advance, which indicated the way forward for Tests, according to Sangakkara. "Have iconic Test series for every country, like the Ashes for England and Australia. Have one for India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - it draws the crowds to the grounds."
There have been plenty of exciting Test matches over the past few years, including the memorable South African victory in Australia, England hanging on to nail-biting draws in three Tests, and India retaining the No. 1 ranking after a win with nine deliveries to spare in Kolkata last month in the face of a Hashim Amla masterclass. Sangakkara said players must dish out exciting cricket to gets fans to show up. "We have to accept the fact that we play because we are watched, we are entertainers - we can call ourselves gladiators," he said. "At the end of the day we entertain and we like to play in front of a crowd. To get the crowd we have to be responsible enough to play entertaining cricket."
He also spoke of his team's ambitions to correct some of the blots in Sri Lanka's Test record, such as their record against Australia and their performances on tours to India. "We want to win against Australia, we want to beat India in India. Those are the things we talk about as players, and these opportunities don't come if we don't play Test cricket," he said. "If Test cricket is going to be relegated as the third format of the game, behind Twenty20 and one-day cricket, then I think it will be a very sad day for cricket."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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I do like Sanga as cricket fan of him and also a person who loves cricket. Therefore the fact that Sanga has pointed out to safe guard the test cricket is correct. But the funny side is that he is asking all people come to the ground and watch the cricket and ask to stop the TV broadcast. Really if it is done people will stop watching the test cricket even from the TV with the busy life in the fast moving world. Let's see how it happens. In my view test cricket will not die eventhough some rules would be changed over the time.
Posted by chandana1997 on (March 12 2010, 13:17 PM GMT)It is ironic for a person who was instrumental in scrapping Srilankan test match tour to England considering the huge monitary gains that he and few of his money minded companions would get by playing for IPL in India or south africa to talk about how to improve test cricket.It is is another futile effort to boost his image.If you are genuinely interested in setting up high standards in test cricket or to play for your country with dedication please give priority for playing for the country instead of appearing for advertisements,playing for IPL or getting elated for signing with Lancashier.If you prove that money is not your god cricket fans will come to watch matches.If you fail to do that cricket lovers will not watch matches even on TV until you exit from the national team. Last Man
Posted byIt.will.be.the.darkest day.of.cricket when it will be desided to take TEST CRICKET out from the feild. All the greatest players in the history of cricket up to date were born through test cricket and day by day we enjoy talking and reading about them. 20/20 is the beer garden, 50 over game is the combination of beer garden and braii spot. But as we know for decades......Test cricket is the gentlmens game. So Sanga..... yes you can do something to keep it going and growing. Who knows... one day it will be again Test cricket that will dominate.
Posted by Crickettttt on (March 11 2010, 16:23 PM GMT)I do like Sanga very much, not just for his cricketing skills but for his general overall outlook. BUT by forcing people to goto the ground 7+ hrs a day, for 5 days, this is surely a fast way to bury test cricket. Lets accept the fact that this is the direction the world is going. We need a mix of all forms or cricket. Probably for a series to be won, we can assign 10 points if a test match is won, 4 points if One day is won and 2 points if T20 is won, am not going into details I am just throwing a number to give my opinion. That way if india srilanka play a series only one trophy will be given to one country depending on how they fare in all forms of game. You can make it a 21 -24 member squad, reserve CERTAIN specialists as players of tests and T20s only. Think about it, the entire month will be interesting. That way people wil be more interested in Tests cause more points are awarded to Tests. More talents get to be recruited to play cricket overall. MY PATENT ON THIS IDEA :-D
Posted by wiiCricket on (March 11 2010, 16:11 PM GMT)Test cricket can become alive if pitches are sporting. Where bowlers can get out something from the pitch. Battle of ball and bat is visible enough. Put that on and you will see crowd crawling to stadiums to watch nail bitters and close encounters. I enjoy watching a match when bowlers make batsman work for his runs. That is what TEST cricket is all about. Having flat pitches where Shewag can hammer bowlers all around is not exciting to watch.
Posted by AsherCA on (March 11 2010, 15:58 PM GMT)T20 cricket has given 1 huge benefit to test cricket, I am surprised nobody talks about it - 3.5 - 4 runs an over run rates have become almost the norm in test cricket nowadays, the 1.5 - 2 runs an over batathlons that resulted in drab draws seem to be a thing of the past. With batsmen looking bat rather than pad & take marginally more risks, there are more runs & wickets in test cricket, resulting in result-oriented cricket which brings spectators to the ground. If as all these so-called experts are suggesting, T20 / T50 cricket is reduced / eliminated, the Sehwag's / Yuvaraj's of the future will have almost no stage. The boring Gavaskar-Boycott-Tavare era where batsmen used pads more than bats in test cricket will return & that will kill test cricket.
Posted by SettingSun on (March 11 2010, 14:39 PM GMT)Sangakkara is one of the more intelligent thinkers in cricket right now but this idea of not broadcasting a match into a city with low attendance is completely ridiculous. Funnily enough, Kumar, some people actually work from home and/or have a family to look after who would rather not spend 6+ hours a day watching cricket, so I'd rather keep it on TV if that's okay.
Posted by Mutukisna on (March 11 2010, 14:37 PM GMT)Sangakkara's comments make sense but the solutions need some tweaking. It is accepted that the bulk of the Revenue comes from the TV companies. If coverage is denied to viewers in the home country, this will result in the loss of a significant part of the revenue from TV companies. My solution is that admission ticket prices should be reduced drastically to such an extent to make it affordable for people sitting at home watching TV, for schoolchildren after school hours and other would be spectators to proceed to the Test Match. After all, there is something called atmosphere at the grounds which even high defintion TV and/or Surround Sound cannot replace. One can enjoy the atmosphere only if one attends! Finally, test cricketers match fees should be increased in proportion to the time spent on the field compared to those playing the shorter versions of the game, but adjusted for the longer periods spent in the dressing rooms by the batting sides.
Posted by VettiPayyan on (March 11 2010, 13:24 PM GMT)All i can say is that some portions of many Test matches have been exciting for me..Like SA-Ind First test , Last day of Second test when Amla tried batting thru but Indians kept picking wickets.. Close encounters in Eng tour of SA.. If we go a bit back in time, Ind - Aus 2001 and 2004 series.. absolutely rocking... Ashes 2005 among the best..Ind's tour of NZ 2003.. even though Ind lost miserably :-) I think we have to accept the fact that Test cricket will lose its appeal a bit .. due to changing life style, match fixing allegations in 2000 which reduced major fan following in general & of course - Advent of T20. Now ppl generally lose patience a lot easily in normal life too, leave alone sports.. Also lets wait and watch how T20's longevity is. All said and done..Cricket fans need to get variety..like T20..cant force them to be sticking to 1 form of cricket..Let them enjoy. Let test cricket be taken seriously by cricketers to groom themselves .. not us...
Posted by jamrith on (March 11 2010, 13:20 PM GMT)Agree 100% but watching Test matches is just not on in India where the ground facilities are awful unless you are lucky/rich enough to be in a corporate box.Probably the best place to watch Tests is Sri Lanka, especially Galle. England and Australia are good but probably too expensive, and as the day wears on, too much beer flows with obvious after-effects !!