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Saving Test cricket from 20/20

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The sapping October heat is behind us, as is the hullabaloo about the Champions Trophy. The latter manifested two startling factors; One-Day cricket is becoming boringly predictable, and experimentation such as PowerPlay has been as effective as teaching George Bush the principles of international diplomacy.

The exorbitant ticket prices notwithstanding, we witnessed empty stadiums with small crowds interspersed in tiny clusters all through the tournament, compelling organisers to do the unprecedented charitable act of distributing free tickets for the finals, no less. In a country where cricket dominates the mind-frame of the paan-chewing (betel-leaf) Banarsi and the grey-suited corporate czar at Nariman Point, the school-bunking teenager and the superstitious grand-mother, this was nothing short of blasphemy. Continue reading below

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Ironically enough, although Test cricket has become a lot more fast-paced and result-oriented, with almost all teams adopting an aggressive outcome-driven approach, the crowds have refused to queue up. The Ashes tickets (the world's traditional rivalry for over a century) maybe sold out, but one swallow does not make a summer. Even the famed India-Pakistan series last year was a colossal disaster.

My biggest fear is that with Twenty20 cricket being lavishly introduced in a big-scale next year, and most past veterans and current cricketers endorsing it with almost-child-like glee, we will see further erosion of Test cricket. Which will be sad, to say the least.

Interestingly, even Bollywood is facing a similar crisis; lengthy films of over 18 reels which were once greeted with wild clapping and loud cat-calls, today evoke deep sighs and a collective moan.

In my opinion, instead of introducing changes in an ad-hoc manner and cursorily responding with reactionary changes (like the flop Substitute player and PowerPlay), we need to do a drastic surgery. I am neither a pious purist nor a rabid iconoclast, but I believe Test cricket needs a heart transplant to survive.

Given below is my suggestions for reinventing and reinvigorating Test Cricket. The changes recommended are intentionally revolutionary, because given current trends, I cannot foresee small-hop changes as the correct approach.

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Test cricket: A new format

  • The duration of a Test Match should be reduced to four days from the current five days.

  • On each match-playing day a maximum of 100 overs will have to be bowled.

  • Each team will get a maximum of 100 overs to face; the innings will have to be declared compulsorily at the end of 100 overs.

  • If a team gets dismissed earlier, the opposing team gets the extra overs as a bonus for batting.

  • Colored clothing is allowed, if so desired.

  • The whole Test match can also be played in a Day/ Night format.

  • No bowler to be allowed more than 30 overs.

  • The Duckworth/Lewis rule will apply in case of rain interruptions.

  • An extra day's cricket will be played in case a full day is completely rained off.

Advantages of new format:

  • Duration of the game is reduced by a day.

  • A declaration is mandatory, thus ensuring a brisk pace to the game. A score of 450 runs per day will be easily practicable.

  • Teams will have to play with a judicious mix of flamboyance and circumspection.

  • As bowlers will have limited overs, pitch conditions cannot be easily exploited by home teams making for a competitive game.

  • A result is inevitable; thus all Test matches will guarantee a finish, thus making them an attractive proposition.

  • In the rare instance of a tie, the current rules can apply.

  • Higher week-day viewing in case of D/N matches.

  • Corporate sponsorship will be much easier, and bigger.

    • I have often wondered at the accelerating decline of Test cricket, which is often attributed to the ODI format. However, the partial cause for the diminishing value of the good ole' Queen's game is the high probability of an unlikely result at the end of five days, of so-called "wasteful watching" of cricket. That is literally sacrilegious, according to many young enthusiasts gradually getting accustomed to Formula 1, basketball, tennis, PS2 and instant dating.

    Like the dwindling Indian tiger population, Test cricket will have to be saved from total extinction. The time to start is now.