“Unfortunately, the thing is some of the other countries don’t get paid that well to play international cricket,” says Khawaja
ESPNcricinfo Staff
Clarke: No domestic competition should precede the trials
As debate rages over South Africa’s Test squad selection in favor of the SA20, Michael Clarke believes the game is at a critical juncture.
Pat Cummins doesn’t think Test cricket’s decline in popularity is “as dramatic as it’s often made out to be”, but admits he worries about the future of the five-day game at times. Teammate Usman Khawaja pointed to the lack of pay parity across the cricketing world and said international and Test cricket needed to be “motivated” for underpaid players as well.
“I hope it’s even stronger than it is now, ten years from now or 20 years from now,” Cummins told reporters ahead of Australia’s third Test against Pakistan in Sydney. “I think in some respects leading into this summer of Tests, some of the question marks were against Pakistan and the West Indies. We had two fantastic Test matches against Pakistan, very well supported, big crowds.
“So I don’t think it’s as dramatic a drop as it’s sometimes talked about. But I think there’s a problem just with the number of other cricketers out there, obviously the competition for talent is higher than ever.”
Debate over the future of Test cricket resurfaced late last week when South Africa announced a patchwork squad for the two-Test series in New Zealand in early February. With many first-choice players involved in the SA20 league at the time, uncapped Neil Brand was named captain. The 14-man squad has seven uncapped players, with 15-year-old Duanne Olivier the most experienced of the lot.
Cummins hoped South Africa’s decision to send a second-string team to New Zealand was just a fluke.
“I grew up absolutely loving Test cricket,” he said. “I think it goes through phases. I know the South African team is not sending their strongest side. I hope it’s a phase.”
Talking to you Fox cricketKhawaja said that world cricket needs to wake up to the crisis in the making and address it.
“In my personal view, unfortunately the issue is that some of the other countries don’t get paid as well to play international cricket,” he said. “That’s just the raw data. I know because I’ve spoken to players from other nations, asked them what their average salary is, what their playing contracts are for their countries.
“It would be great to see all the boards and where their finances are. They’re struggling, they’re getting the money to the right places, it’s going back to the players. We’ve got to find a way for them [other countries] to get motivated to play international and especially test cricket. This requires transparency from all cricket boards around the world to try to figure out how to pay the players in the best way they can.
“Once you can get past that, if you see a massive shortfall for the Windies – they’re struggling, they’re not bringing in enough money – then world cricket needs to come together to help. But until you get clarity and 100% know that the money is not being misallocated, it’s hard to know.”
“I don’t understand why the ICC or the top countries that earn a lot of money don’t just have a set regulation fee for Test matches, which is a premium, so people are incentivized to play Test cricket. Otherwise, they just play T10 or T20.”Steve Waugh
Shan Masood, Pakistan’s Test captain, said before the Sydney Test that while he was “not 100 per cent educated” on the matter, he wished the best XIs would be pitted against the best XIs in the game at all times.
“It’s a shame South Africa can’t send their full squad, but hopefully somewhere down the line the schedules can be made in a certain way so that we see the strongest XI playing Test cricket,” Masood said in an interaction with the press.
Cummins, Khawaja and Masood were speaking a day after Steve Waugh had accused the ICC and various cricket boards of not caring enough about Test cricket.
“They obviously don’t care,” Waugh said Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s pretty obvious what the problem is. The West Indies are not sending their full strength [to Australia this summer]. They haven’t picked a full-strength Test team in two years. […] If the ICC or someone doesn’t step in soon, Test cricket doesn’t become Test cricket because you don’t test yourself against the best players.
“I understand why the players don’t come. They don’t get paid properly. I don’t understand why the ICC or the top countries that earn a lot of money don’t just have a regulation fee for Test matches which is a premium so people are incentivized to play Test cricket. Otherwise, they just play T10 or T20. It’s the public who will suffer because they don’t play the whole, so it’s not Test cricket.”
While T20 is seen as the most popular format with the masses, Australian venues still have generous numbers coming to watch Test cricket. The Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan last week had more than 100,000 people watch over the first two days alone. But that’s not always the case elsewhere in the world, and it worries Cummins a bit.
“Every summer is bigger than the last here in Australia, but obviously going overseas, that’s not the case,” Cummins said. “In some ways, I worry a bit at times, but at the same time, T20 cricket has never had more supporters and I don’t think there have been more supporters in the world watching cricket.
“As a fan of Test cricket, I wish everyone watched Test cricket, but I’ve never seen cricket stronger than it is right now.”
Will universal match fees for test matches do the trick to attract more players to play the bigger version of the game? Cummins doesn’t have a strong view on it, but hopes for a “silver bullet” that could potentially help Test cricket regain its popularity.
“Ideally we find a way to make it work when we have 15 or 20 nations playing Tests and they’re all really strong,” Cummins said. “I understand there are a lot of different challenges, so I feel really privileged that in Australia it’s a priority and it’s very well supported every time we play. I don’t know what the silver bullet is, but it would be great if there was one.”