Asian Test Cricket after the mini World Cup (26 October 1998)

26 October 1998

Asian Test Cricket after the mini World Cup

By Lateef Jafri

The emergence of international instant cricket was more by accident than design. As history shows when rain came with unabated fury to halt play on the final day of the Ashes Test at Melbourne 27 years ago, a one-day match was arranged to entertain the cricket-crazy crowds.

As the globalisation of the newly-evolved game variety took shape and each cricket-playing country got involved in this evolution, in 1975 - just four years after the hastily arranged fixture - an officially approved World Cup of one-dayers was staged in England. Apart from the six full members of the International Cricket Council, two other nations viz East Africa and Sri Lanka having associate status competed for the top laurels, then clinched by the West Indies, supposed to be the strongest warriors. Their winning sequence was only broken when India lifted the coveted trophy in 1983. Pakistan was not to stay behind as she lowered the colours of England in 1992 before a packet-to-capacity Melbourne cricket ground, the venue where the game's first Test between England and Australia was launched on March 15, 1877. Even the third member of South Asian fraternity, Sri Lanka exhibited its strength at Lahore's Qadhafi Stadium by pinning down Australia in what was the sixth edition of the World Cup in 1996.

As the limited-over tussles proliferated, the age-old traditional Test matches began losing their popularity and financial endorsement. As the former were supposed to be result-oriented, the latter engagements were in danger of being overwhelmed, if no superseded, by the great public support and market sponsorship that the innovative phenomenon received.

Just to save the Test matches from a feared decline and decadence, the idea of a World Test championship was floated by many famed cricket personages among whom were Sir Richard Hadlee, Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, the South African cricket supremo, Dr Ali Bacher, besides Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan, former board chief.

Hadlee, while putting forward the scheme, called it 'super Test' and wanted a grand final after every four years. While Dr Bacher had initially his own reservations, he later came round to the proposal and thought that it would undeniably be a success and would attract full crowd and get extensive commercial backing.

Pakistan had despatched a detailed workable plan about three years back but the new cricket officialdom went with the general opinion at Lord's and agreed to throw cold water on it. Though the ICC had been taking up the issue there were many 'ifs and buts' at the yearly summit of global cricket bosses. The major hurdles pointed out were logistics and disturbance in the international cricket calendar.

Wisden's Editor Matthew Engle, who has been stressing the need for a world Test contest for the last three years, thinks that the starting point may be any series with the winner to get two points, in drawn duels the combatants to share one point each, the loser entitled to claim only a cypher. In Engel's proposal the championship will become a tedious affair as it will go on and on for four years when the finalists and the ultimate winner will be on view. The whole idea will be counter-productive from the public point of view. The spectators cannot wait for long for an ultimate winner. The one-dayers will go on stealing the limelight and pushing the Test into oblivion. Why can't the global Test competition be held at one stretch with the mandatory entry of the nine full members of the ICC - with no provision of participation for associate members, even though some of them or at least Bangladesh may be approaching the Lord's with an application for an open-door policy.

Long ago in the summer of 1912, England, Australia and South Africa, then the only three Test-playing countries, decided to arrange a triangular Test competition, 23 years after South Africa's appearance on the international cricket stage. Ansford and Keeper Carter.

Weather played havoc with the matches in which England topped the league table. The final was supposed to be played to a finish - the first timeless Test. But again the rain fell steadily but later it became heavy to not only hold up play for sometime on the opening day but most of the second day. It changed the huge and behaviour of the wicket. Sydney Barnes and Frank Wolley put their full weight in bowling to puzzle the Australian batting which in the second knock succumbed for a paltry 65 to give England the honours in the triangular Test tournament.

If at all the full members were not prepared to follow in the footsteps of their forefathers and were not going to cut the Gordian knot and were trying to complicate the proposal with a new system it was but meet for the South Asian comity of nations, joint organisers of the sixth World Cup with much success, to have taken the initiative to launch a triangular Test competition. The top officials of the three countries, in particular Khalid Mahmood of Pakistan and Raj Singh Dungarpur India, have a unanimity of view that the project will have a major success to be followed by the other six Test-playing countries. The dates at the Kathmandu meeting of the Asian Cricket Council were not finalised but tentatively the schedule is supposed to be between February and March next. The venues, according to Abdul Rahman Bukhatir of United Arab Emirates, are Dhaka, with all modern electronic arrangements and grassy strip, and Sharjah, which will have to complete the remaining work needed for a five-day fixture, apart from providing a sporting strip to the rival teams.

The officials of the Asian countries are agreed that market-wise the tournament will be a 'hit' with the stadia in Dhaka and Sharjah jampacked to give crowd support.

Everything will be in place by year-end, according to Bukhatir, for the competition to take off in the most suitable way.

According to the Asian cricket representatives, the contest will take about 25 days with the Test initially to follow the league pattern. The finals may be a straight knockout duel or may be a three-match series. Whatever may be the mode the result will be known quite early, not in four years. The tournament hopefully may be as interesting and as thrilling as the limitedovers encounters. If the records fall like nine pins the venture may become a forerunner to a more delightful cricket than the one-dayers can provide.

It is not known if the Asian Test project will be quadrennial or bi-yearly since Dr Ali Bacher wants the one-day World Cup to be a two -years meet. Perhaps the experts will come out with the format soon to give the fans full details of the competition and its future programme.

The ACC officials are yet undecided on the mode and method to be adopted for the league contest, if a points system will be better during the round-robin ties and then a three-match final to determine the first Test champion of the region. In any case the Wisden pattern, as suggested by Matthew Engel, appears impracticable, certainly not gainful for Test cricket. It is possible his main interest may be to switch the finals to England's venues for their monetary benefits.

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)