All Out Cricket columnist Rohan Kallicharan says he finds himself disillusioned with the modern game.
I’m a big fan of the writing of former Kent, Middlesex and England batsman, Ed Smith. He’s one of that rare breed of journalist able to leave bias or jingoism well alone and has an intelligent and approachable style. For that reason I was saddened to read his recent thoughts on the current state of Test match cricket: saddened but neither shocked nor surprised. The theme of Smith’s piece was the declining standard of and interest in Test cricket, the context being another one-sided contest finishing well inside the scheduled five days.
He went on to admit that his thoughts were fixed on events at the Australian Open long before the conclusion of the match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval: “The evolution of other sports provides the context in which cricket operates. When I was a cricket-mad kid, I never thought I might enjoy watching other sports almost as much as Test cricket. But that is how things have turned out.”
I used to feel the same – and not just about my West Indian heroes. Beefy, Sir Richard Hadlee, DK Lillee; these were players you wanted to be in the playground, possessing charisma, class and machismo. But I couldn’t help but agree with Smith’s thoughts on the modern game. I simply haven’t had the desire to sit and watch entire sessions of this winter’s Test cricket, largely because the quality is so poor and the lack of real competition so evident.
I’ll happily sit through up to 10 hours of the NFL on a Sunday evening, travel up and down the country to watch Liverpool or sit glued to my sofa for six hours of sporting brilliance between Nadal and Djokovic at the Aussie Open. But I’ve struggled to immerse myself in Test match cricket of late.
I should put this in context. I chose to miss my graduation because I wanted to watch Brian Lara bat at Old Trafford in 2004 and cancelled my engagement party because it clashed with Test match weekend at Edgbaston. There was a time when I wouldn’t sleep for close to 72 hours so as to take in as much Test cricket as possible from around the world.
Cricket was fortunate that the giants of the 80s – the likes of Richards, Botham, Hadlee and Marshall – were replaced by players of the stature of Lara, Tendulkar, Warne and Wasim. Those guys carried the torch into the 21st century and shared it with emerging stars in the form of Flintoff, Murali, Sehwag and Gilchrist. But take a snapshot of the current game and we’re left wondering who the next standard bearers are going to be.
The quality of the product has to improve and matches need to be more competitive if Test cricket is to stir the emotions as it used to. The ICC can play their part in this process by disregarding the traditional politics of decision-making in the international game and demonstrating its authority in terms of scheduling and the quality of pitches. Failure to do so will see more fans falling out of love with the game.
Click here to read Rohan Kallicharan’s tribute to Malcolm Marshall
Where Is The Love?
All Out Cricket columnist Rohan Kallicharan says he finds himself disillusioned with the modern game.
I’m a big fan of the writing of former Kent, Middlesex and England batsman, Ed Smith. He’s one of that rare breed of journalist able to leave bias or jingoism well alone and has an intelligent and approachable style. For that reason I was saddened to read his recent thoughts on the current state of Test match cricket: saddened but neither shocked nor surprised. The theme of Smith’s piece was the declining standard of and interest in Test cricket, the context being another one-sided contest finishing well inside the scheduled five days.
He went on to admit that his thoughts were fixed on events at the Australian Open long before the conclusion of the match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval: “The evolution of other sports provides the context in which cricket operates. When I was a cricket-mad kid, I never thought I might enjoy watching other sports almost as much as Test cricket. But that is how things have turned out.”
I used to feel the same – and not just about my West Indian heroes. Beefy, Sir Richard Hadlee, DK Lillee; these were players you wanted to be in the playground, possessing charisma, class and machismo. But I couldn’t help but agree with Smith’s thoughts on the modern game. I simply haven’t had the desire to sit and watch entire sessions of this winter’s Test cricket, largely because the quality is so poor and the lack of real competition so evident.
I’ll happily sit through up to 10 hours of the NFL on a Sunday evening, travel up and down the country to watch Liverpool or sit glued to my sofa for six hours of sporting brilliance between Nadal and Djokovic at the Aussie Open. But I’ve struggled to immerse myself in Test match cricket of late.
I should put this in context. I chose to miss my graduation because I wanted to watch Brian Lara bat at Old Trafford in 2004 and cancelled my engagement party because it clashed with Test match weekend at Edgbaston. There was a time when I wouldn’t sleep for close to 72 hours so as to take in as much Test cricket as possible from around the world.
Cricket was fortunate that the giants of the 80s – the likes of Richards, Botham, Hadlee and Marshall – were replaced by players of the stature of Lara, Tendulkar, Warne and Wasim. Those guys carried the torch into the 21st century and shared it with emerging stars in the form of Flintoff, Murali, Sehwag and Gilchrist. But take a snapshot of the current game and we’re left wondering who the next standard bearers are going to be.
The quality of the product has to improve and matches need to be more competitive if Test cricket is to stir the emotions as it used to. The ICC can play their part in this process by disregarding the traditional politics of decision-making in the international game and demonstrating its authority in terms of scheduling and the quality of pitches. Failure to do so will see more fans falling out of love with the game.
Click here to read Rohan Kallicharan’s tribute to Malcolm Marshall