sussexpob wrote:I think test cricket has major problems. Simply put, I couldnt name you another sport where the historical progression has lead to quality of the sport slowly draining away. I watch the rugby world cup a couple of months ago and marvelled at how quick and skillful all players had become. You watch football sides in a League Two FA cup game and marvel at even the ball control of your average bottom rung football player in England, not to mention the overall skill level of the top flight. Even in cricket, in one day internationals and T20 there has been innovations in batting techniques and style that are mind blowing.
Test cricket feels subpar. Good bowling in tough conditions leads to Trent Bridge style capitulations, or we get poor wickets and no results. Ill take the predictions here with a pinch of salt, we are all cricket lovers who spend time on here debating the nitty gritty, but I cant expect new people to the game be attracted to this sport because the standards are very low.
I mean Australia were the best team in the world apparently when they came to England last, but a bit of swing made them look like chumps. And England won a series where they were annihilated in two tests. South Africa are at home now and have a team where all their best players dont seem to have their heart in it. The Windies produced the best teams ever but are wrapped in a "we dont really care" thing at the moment and as a team might not exist for long.
I honestly dont see a future for test cricket.
Sadly, my posts were written from the same sort of place. Against that, I considered SA's defensive epic against India in Delhi. To me that is a kind of timeless monument to the game. It can only happen if people care hugely. Yet, in cricinfo, an Indian academic wrote an article shortly afterwards that this must never be allowed to happen again, and it had no place in the modern world...!
Sport only sort of works,
if it is an opiate of the masses. Once people don't have that suspension of disbelief, it seems to disappear (as happened with me and football). With Test cricket, there are the administrators, the fans, the players, and the press all picking away the four corners of the fabric, and it feels like it is starting to unravel. Could be just me of course.
I always say that everybody's right.