Recently, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been criticized for its decision to make way for more Twenty20 International (T20I) matches, during West Indies tour, by reducing Test matches.
The PCB, said in a statement that, in consultation with the Cricket West Indies and keeping an eye on this year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, they had agreed to replace one Test match with two additional T20Is during their tour of West Indies.
The introduction of Twenty20 has been arguably the most innovative and influential development in cricket in the last 40 years. It has brought excitement and drama and a new set of skills to the game. It has also brought exposure, investment and, above all, a new generation of fans in great numbers.
While Twenty20 packs out 80,000 seat stadia in India and Australia, Test match cricket is struggling to fill much smaller grounds and, in England, attendances at county championship games are dwindling to almost vanishing point.
Has Twenty20 revived a game that was dying on its feet? Or is Test match cricket simply too slow and time-consuming to meet the demands of our modern lifestyles?
Test Cricket
Even though, Test cricket has begun to lose its footing as the global rise of T20s has overshadowed its significance, nevertheless Test cricket should not be abrogated as it is the foremost hallmark of cricket’s existence and boasts historical legacy of cricketing rivalries.
Known as the purest form of the game, Test cricket is the sole identity of cricket’s genesis and has existed for more than a hundred and forty years. The term “Test” also stems from these latter decades of the 19th century and illustrated the mental and physical grueling players had to undergo.
Developing on the argument, Test cricket boasts one of the greatest sporting rivalries in modern sports, The Ashes. Test cricket has given us some of the best cricketers, the sport has ever seen: Sir Don Bradman, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Zaheer Abbas and many more.
T20 cricket
Despite Test cricket’s historical relevance to the originality of the game, T20 cricket, which started back in 2003, has taken the cricketing world by storm. Like a summer blockbuster smashing box office records, T20s have invaded the stage and eclipsed Test cricket through its thrills.
T20 is a real money-spinner. Cricket’s administrators have become enamored with their new toy and focused solely on exploiting the windfall. Meanwhile they’ve carelessly, and shamefully, neglected the traditional form of the game.
Final words
T20 could have complemented Test cricket beautifully. Instead, it’s going to eat it. It’s not a doubt that T20 cricket is entertaining but the real beauty of this game lies in Test matches.
