‘Have A Promotion & Relegation System’: Ravi Shastri Provides Unique Suggestion To Keep Test Cricket Alive (Photo credit: ICC)
Speaking at the World Cricket Connects, an event hosted by the Marylebone Cricket Club at the Lord’s, Shastri emphasised on the requirement for a significant overhaul in the structure of Tests to sustain its relevance and appeal.
Test cricket’s reducing appeal outside India, England and Australia has coincided with the proliferation of lucrative T20 leagues across the world.
“When you don’t have quality, that is when the ratings drop, there are fewer people in the crowd, it’s meaningless cricket, which is the last thing the sport wants,” Shastri said while speaking at the prestigious meeting.
“You have 12 Test match teams. Bring it down to six or seven and have a promotion and relegation system. You can have two tiers, but let the top six keep playing to sustain the interest in Tests. You can spread the game in other formats, like T20,” Shastri added.
The influx of a significant number of domestic franchise T20 leagues has compelled players to choose them over Tests, because of their massive financial payout.
Echoing Shastri’s sentiments, MCC president Mark Nicholas said that while Tests are a league of their own, the sport required the bucks to sustain itself in the longer run.
“T20 cricket is the behemoth that everybody wants. It is where the new market is, where the fans are and where the money is,” Nicholas said.
A number of cricketers have followed the high-profile Boult, and even with the introduction of the World Test Championship, T20 leagues still look like the favoured genre of cricket for not just cricketers, who are earning big money, but also for the audience, who are provided more entertainment from a three-four hour-long game, rather than a five-day match.