A game divided
In the Age , Greg Baum offers a bleak assessment of cricket's future
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the Age, Greg Baum offers a bleak assessment of cricket's future. In short, he says: "Test cricket is screwed".
Yesterday, it was Cricket Australia's turn to announce an IPL-style, "city-based, franchise-owned", involving New Zealand and South Africa. The players welcomed it. Two years ago, players' advocate Tim May condemned the ICC's expansion plan, warning of mass burn-out of players. But that was before the IPL and all its zeroes arrived. Now May thinks growth is good, even great.
Invariably, when asked how each new tournament will be fitted into the schedule, administrators reply that it is simply a matter of "finding a window", sophistry for "wherever". At the going rate, other than the scoreboard operators when India is batting in Delhi next week, the busiest man in cricket will be the ICC's glazier.
Where is it all going? At the ICC this week, to the usual place, committee. Future tours program? "Report back." Test championship? "Report back." Sri Lanka bails out of England? "A wink is as good as a nod …"
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The ICC has its head in the sand, which in Dubai is not so surprising. So does the players' body. Test cricket draws crowds only in Australia and England, and that is not enough. In television terms, one Test used to be worth four one-dayers. Now, two Tests are worth one one-dayer, hence England's skewed schedule in India. Test cricket is screwed.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here