The problem with Test cricket

After an astonishing climax to last week’s second, and regrettably final, Test between South Africa and Australia at the Wanderers, and an equally enthralling finale to the drawn Test match between India and the West Indies, a common and frankly unsettling debate has once again bubbled to the surface: is Test cricket really dying? On the evidence of that historic day in Johannesburg or those final moments in Mumbai certainly not, but aside from these extraordinary, yet increasingly rare, moments of clarity in which the future of Test cricket looks safely intact, the situation is otherwise rather more uncertain.

Exposure

One thing that perhaps all cricket fans and commentators can agree on is that there is too much cricket. As the only major Test playing nation in the northern hemisphere it is perhaps an issue more familiar to those who follow English cricket, but with the influx of the unnecessarily long IPL and a multitude of television commitments to adhere to it is a concern for cricket the world over. Most saddening is that Test cricket suffers more than most.

What people fail to realise is that Test cricket is completely and utterly unique from all other forms of cricket. The skills shown in a Twenty20 are not likely to offer much in a Test match, and whilst the 50 over game mirrors Test match batting more adequately, the defensive and restrictive nature of bowling often found in a one day game does little to prepare a bowler for the rigours of a five day match.

"We do play too much cricket and if something had to give my choice would be 50-over cricket, or make it 40-over cricket or something.” Graeme Swann

A greater focus on limited overs cricket does almost nothing to support Test cricket and its increasing presence on the world stage may well be slowly bringing the game’s legendary format to its knees. Knocking 40 off 30 balls or bowling ten overs in a day is so far removed from the intensity of Test cricket that it is no surprise that interest in the game appears to have waned. Players regularly turn up undercooked and often cannot complete a Test match because they’re exposure to ‘tough’ cricket has been so infrequent.

For cricket as a sport to succeed and remain an entertaining and enthralling battle between bat and ball Test cricket must remain at the helm. Test cricket serves as the benchmark for all other cricketing ventures. It teaches bowlers to work out their opponents, how to bowl aggressively and to savour an opponent’s wicket. It tests a batsman’s technique, temperament and ability to protect their wicket at all times. These are treasured and essential skills in cricket; skills that if Test cricket was to lose its authority would soon find themselves absent from the game and would ultimately destroy the very fabric of the sport.

Competition

In order for Test cricket to reclaim its rightful place at the top of the sport it must more than anything else remain competitive. This does not necessarily mean ensuring a result after five days, a draw is often the fairest outcome and saving a Test match can be riveting viewing, but ensuring that along the way there is an even and exciting battle between bat and ball and that ultimately those players who step out on the field are tested.

One obvious tweak is to produce more interesting wickets. Clearly the surface must be safe and ideally last four or five days, but watching batsmen (usually Indian’s in India) churn out scores of 500 plus every innings, bagging a century each in the process, is just plain boring. Cricket’s old boys are forever harping on about a lack of fast bowling talent and genuine world class wicket takers, yet whilst we do not wish to gift bowler’s wickets they don’t deserve, one reason for such complaints may not be simply a lack of talent but rather the sheer volume of cricket and the unresponsive surfaces on which it is played.

"In the English summer the pitches had a little bit in them for the bowlers but if you bat well enough you can score big runs which we did. Organisers are going to want five days of cricket for the gate receipts but at the same time people want to see exciting cricket so the pitches need to be result pitches."  James Anderson

Crucially competitive wickets attract that rare breed of fan – the neutral. Sure any England fan doesn’t mind watching the Aussies loose by an innings and 50 runs, but to a South African such a one-sided result offers little in the way of unbiased entertainment. Rewind to 2005 and you find a series that encapsulated the entire cricketing community. Why? Because the series was played on a knife edge. So thrilling was the narrative that even non-cricket fans found themselves glued to the television or queuing for miles outside Lords just to get a taste of the action.

What was unique about that series however, and in fact every other series between England and Australia, was its context, something clearly devoid from almost all non-Ashes cricket. Take the English Premier League. Its competitive nature and increasing rivalries between clubs and their fans keeps this multi-million pound industry thriving year after year. Cricket does not have this. The news that the planned Test Championship, that would see the top eight Test playing nations compete against one another in a knockout style competition, is to be postponed until at least 2017 is certainly tragic but its conception alone (which I applaud) suggests something is rotten in Test match cricket.

Anderson: 'Next year is going to be really tough for us'

James Anderson expects a tough test next year as England look to maintain there position as the world's premier Test nation. England begin their 2012 campaign against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in January before travelling to Sri Lanka for a two-test series

England have never played a match in Middle East and Anderson believes the key to success will be to adapt quickly to conditions.

"Pakistan played Sri Lanka over there recently and played really well and won the series," Anderson told ESPNcricinfo. "They're used to those conditions now but we've never played a Test match over there so it will be a new challenge for us and we'll see how we cope with that.

"We've had challenges before. We went to Australia and won there, so we'll be confident. We'll look to see how we're going to take 20 wickets because that will be difficult and crucial for us; the spinners might play a big part"

Anderson, along with fellow seamers Graeme Onions and Chris Tremlett, will head out to join the England performance squad in South Africa for a training camp prior to the Test series.

"It's been our goal to become number one in the world and we've got there sooner than we thought we would," he said. "Next year is going to be really tough for us. Getting to No. 1 is one thing but staying there is a completely different task."

Cook and Strauss in all male SPA shortlist

England captain Andrew Strauss and vice-captain Alastair Cook have been shortlisted for the 2011 Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Strauss and Cook have been integral to a magnificent year for English cricket. A thumping victory in the Ashes down under was followed by an equally impressive 4-0 whitewash of India on home soil this summer, a result that meant England would begin 2012 as the world's no. 1 Test team.

After a poor run of form in the summer of 2010 Cook was a man under pressure, but with 766 runs in five Ashes Tests and 294 against India this summer - the sixth highest score by an Englishman and the best since Graham Gooch's 333 against the same apposition in 1990 - the elegant Essex opener proved he was here to stay.

He was duly rewarded with the One Day captaincy and went on to preside over series victories against Sri Lanka and India, all the while contributing handsomely at the top of the order. A 5-0 defeat in India at the back end of the summer reminded Cook that captaincy could not be taken for granted, but having overcome obstacles in his short career so far it would be no surprise if Cook returned with aplomb in 2012.

As Test captain however Andrew Strauss's success has almost been untainted this year. Unbeaten in their last nine series Strauss has given England the kind of stability and calm that they needed after the disastrous series in the West Indies in 2008.

In 2011 Strauss masterminded an astonishing Ashes victory in Australia and helped England to their first whitewash over India since 1974. In partnership with Andy Flower, Strauss has helped mould England into a prolific and highly professional unit who will once again be looking to assert their authority over world cricket when they face Pakistan and Sri Lanka this winter.

The Ultimate Breeding Ground: England's Young Hopefuls Pt. 2

As promised here is the second installment of my pick of England's most promising young cricketers, focusing this time on the country's bowling prospects...

Scott Borthwick

As an English legspinner (yes that’s right!), Scott Borthwick will not doubt get his fair share of attention over the coming years, yet whilst many have fallen by the wayside in our island’s futile search for a wristy tweaker, Borthwick has, so far, done little to sully his name. In his relatively short career Borthwick already has a first class hundred to his name and over 60 wickets in the bank. His statistics are not inspiring, but with England cricket at an all-time high and with Graeme Swann the only real established spinner in the England squad he could yet prove useful, especially in the longer format. England’s spin management has been incredibly poor in recent times and even with Graeme Swann you get the feeling his success is largely down to his positive attitude rather than the faith of the selectors. But with Swann as a guiding light and England with enough talent in the bowling department to ease the pressure on young spinners there is no reason why Borthwick cannot one day make a name for himself on the big stage.

James Harris

Sickeningly talented and not yet 22, James Harris has been turning heads in cricket’s upper echelons for over seven years now. A potent bowler and more than useful lower order bat, Harris will not doubt be a hit with England’s new band of allrounders. He made his debut for Glamorgan at just 16 and went on to become the only 17-year-old to ever take a seven wicket haul in Championship cricket. Since then he has featured in numerous England Performance Squads and is now a regular fixture in the England Lions setup. Currently plying his trade in Division Two, Harris will have to consistently outclass his opposition if he is to displace a fit and firing English seam battery, and with the national side clearly smitten with the youngster it may be in his best interests to consider a move to the first division if he can’t carry his team their over the next couple of years. A nugget of advice that I fear may have helped selectors measure Ravi Bopara’s talents more effectively.

Chris Woakes

Calm and controlled, Chris Woakes has both the skill and the temperament to compete at the very highest level. A fleeting exposure to international cricket has found Woakes to be made of tough stuff bagging 6 for 45 against Australia in only his second of four ODIs, and guiding England to victory with the bat in the first of two T20s following England’s Ashes triumph down under. His reputation though has been built on five prolific seasons for Warwickshire. In 61 matches for his county Woakes already boasts four first class centuries and a batting average of 33, as well as 223 wickets at a paltry 24.60 with the cherry in hand. His chances with England whilst successful have perhaps not played to his obvious strengths in the longer format, but if he continues to perform as he has done for his county so far then a spot in the Test team won’t be far away.

Stuart Meaker

It is a general rule of thumb in English cricket that if you can bowl in excess of 90mph then you are afforded at least one try out for the national team in the vague hope that you turn out to be England’s answer to Curtly Ambrose. Stuart Meaker is this generation’s potential guinea pig. Winner of the Daily Telegraph fast bowling award and the first recipient of the ECB’s Harold Larwood Fast Bowling Scholarship to Australia, Meaker is clearly revered by the England hierarchy, yet with less than 30 first class games under his belt it may and probably should be a while before he is considered for honours in Test cricket. He has already played a handful of ODIs, but if he is to have a long and successful career then he must put in the hard yards and prove he has the strength to play for prolonged periods of time and keep the ball whistling past his opponent’s noses for years to come.

Danny Briggs

Modelling his action on childhood hero Daniel Vettori, Danny Briggs has produced some eye-opening performances in his short career so far. His greatest success has been in Twenty20 cricket where he’s amassed 59 wickets in just 41 matches at 15.47 including astonishing figures of 3 for 5 in four overs and a best haul of 5 for 19. At only 20 and having just become a regular in the Hampshire first eleven Briggs, who was born on the Isle of Wight, has many years to hone his tweaking prowess especially in the four and five day formats. Yet his displays in limited overs cricket could help him become an effective one day cricketer for England and earn him much needed exposure as a young spinner.

The Ultimate Breeding Ground: England's Young Hopefuls

Now the world’s premier Test playing nation and masters of Twenty20 cricket, England are for the first time in over two decades a happy and settled group of cricketers. A nucleus of selfless, hardworking individuals, they tower over all other popular sportsmen and women as definitive modern day professionals. Such an environment whilst highly prolific in the here and now though, also bodes well for the future of English cricket.

Nurturing up and coming talent has never been a simple task in English cricket. With no consistency in senior performances young players are not often giving the prolonged examination they deserve to prove their worth at international level. Australia’s dominance throughout the past fifteen years has allowed the likes of Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting to develop into global superstars whilst England, under the watchful eye of the country’s more successful ancestors, only sought to find short term solutions to long term problems with young players never afforded the time required to adapt to the limelight.

Yet having toppled the all-conquering India on home soil this summer and with the Ashes having been in English hands for over two years, England now have a stable environment in which to cultivate their fresh-faced hopefuls into the next generation of international cricketers. With a core of experienced and reliable players alongside them, England’s youngsters are not likely to feel the kind of pressure they would have done were they born a decade and a half earlier, thus making the transition between county cricket and the international circuit even more achievable, and the chances of another generation of Graeme Hicks and Mark Ramprakash’s thankfully less and less likely. 

So, with this in mind here is a rundown of my prospective England XI and their chances of making themselves a part of English crickets potentially illustrious future:

Alex Hales

A statuesque opening batsman, Hales has been impressing for his county Nottinghamshire for over three years now. On a difficult Trent Bridge wicket Hales has excelled in all forms of the game. His performances in the shorter form of the game though have perhaps been his most impressive, top-scoring in the 2011 Friends Life t20 with 544 runs at 34 with a strike rate of 146 and earning himself a call up to the England Twenty20 squad in late August. A match-winning partnership with Craig Kieswetter against the West Indies in September in which he amassed an impressive 62 not out showed Hales to be a confident young man with a versatility that could see him become a regular in England’s set up in the near future.

Joe Root

A nuggety and determined opening bat, Joe Root is bred from hard Yorkshire stock. Having garnered praise from a notoriously pessimistic Geoffrey Boycott, Root has been touted for great things. Not yet 21 and having only played 18 first class games Root has already toured with England Lions and is set to do so again this winter. With Paul Collingwood no longer a Test match batsman and Jonathan Trott only now reaching the top of his game, Root may well present England’s best hope for another back-to-the-wall specialist. With flamboyancy an ever-increasing trait amongst young players Root’s back-to-basics approach could be an ideal foil to England’s band of youthful extroverts.

James Taylor

One of the most accomplished cricketers in county cricket it is no secret that England are hoping for big things from Taylor. With England’s top four so settled though the Leicestershire batsman will likely be given a few more years to consolidate his impressive start. Averaging just a shade under 50 runs per innings in both first class and one day cricket Taylor is a bona fide run-machine and unlike many England hopefuls may be one of only a few to begin his international career at Test level. The recipient of a Cricket Writer’s Young Player of the Year Award in 2009 Taylor has continued to build on his success ever since and you get the feeling it is just a matter of time before Andy Flower gives him the nod.

Ben Stokes

Signing a two year contract for Durham when he was only 18 Stokes was earmarked for big things from an early age. A powerful batsman and a talented bowler his ascent to the England ranks though has been marred by a long term finger injury hampering both his bowling and his fielding, something that was evident in his first few outings in international colours. A prolific season in 2011 has kept him firmly on Strauss and Flower’s radar and there is no doubt that his all-round abilities will be called upon again in the near future.

Jos Buttler

Amongst a plethora of young talent at Taunton Buttler has emerged as one of the most explosive cricketers in recent years. An improving first class record is somewhat dwarfed by his extraordinary displays in one day cricket. Even on a helpful track Buttler boasts a cool average of 71.16 in 40 over cricket despite having never passed three figures, a feat he’s managed whilst also keeping wicket for his hometown side. Named Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year just a year ago and now on the cusp of a place in England’s limited overs setup, not to mention batting alongside the likes of Marcus Trescothick, Craig Kieswetter and James Hildreth at county level, Buttler has all the ingredients needed to become a prodigious international cricketer.

Jonny Bairstow

Another in a long line of young wicketkeeper-batsmen, Jonny Bairstow has been on fringes of the England team for over a year now. Picked up by the England Performance Squad at the back end of 2010, he went on to play a major part in the England Lions successful tour of the Caribbean this year and has since gone on to establish himself as Yorkshire’s number one gloveman. Despite being the son of former England wicketkeeper David Bairstow however, Bairstow junior has been touted as a potential specialist batsman. And with an average of 45 in 46 first class games and having knocked a breezy 41 off 21 balls on debut against India at Cardiff Bairstow looks set for England honours with or without his gloves.

To be continued…