In the latest issue of All Out Cricket – in shops on December 1 – MCC head of cricket John Stephenson speaks to Jo Harman about his disappointment at the ICC’s decision to postpone the World Test Championship until at least 2017 and the potential implications for the future of the game.
Pick up a copy of the magazine to read the interview in full, but in the meantime here are some excerpts from our interview with the former England and Essex allrounder.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the risk of Test cricket dying out. Is that a realistic possibility? It’s always survived in the past…
It has survived and it’s durable. I think when you sit in England it all looks pretty rosy, doesn’t it? The crowds aren’t a problem, it’s virtually a sell out every day at Lord’s and if you go around the country it looks pretty healthy. But it’s quite depressing looking at crowds elsewhere. Even that fantastic Test match between South Africa and Australia the other day was only half full. People are watching it on TV but not many are coming through the gates. I don’t think it’s going to die but I think it’s certainly going to evolve into something different and it’s difficult to see what that will be now. We need to pander to Test cricket. It’s interesting to you and I but how do we sell it to newcomers to the game? It’s difficult.
The MCC and its World Cricket Committee have been staunch advocates of a World Test Championship since 2008. What is the MCC ideal and how would you balance the three formats?
As a broad overview, we would say that we’ve got to have the World Test Championship, we’ve got to make sure Twenty20 cricket is controlled and we have a 3-3-3 formula for bilateral series – whereby you have three Twenty20s, three 50-over matches and three Tests. However, the iconic series have got to be five Test matches. Australia v South Africa should be five, Australia v India should be five, and England v Australia needs to be five. That’s not to devalue other Test playing nations, but these are iconic series that have to be played over five Tests. We also need the introduction of day/night Test cricket for those places in the world that really need it. For instance, New Zealand v Zimbabwe in Hamilton at the end of January is crying out for an experiment to try and get more people to come and watch it.
Is there a risk that postponing the World Test Championship could discredit the format and result in players turning their back on Tests in favour of limited-overs cricket?
Yes, I think you can see that happening already with Malinga. A few players have taken the Twenty20 route and you can’t really blame them, but we need those players in Test cricket. We need the best players in the world because that’s what Test cricket survives on, having the best players playing at peak fitness.
You’re obviously disappointed by the ICC’s decision. How will you continue to lobby for change?
Well, it’s been proven over the last five or six years since we set up our World Cricket Committee that the best brains and the most respected figures in the game now have their views fed straight into the ICC Cricket Committee. We have almost a formal reporting process into there now. They take heed of our advice and our thoughts and they obviously have to consider the commercial aspects when it goes higher up the chain, but at least their views get a good airing. The committee is about a purely cricketing ideal and what’s good for cricket. That’s what comes out of our committee: the conscience of the game.
To read our interview with John Stephenson in full – including why he thinks the ICC postponed the World Test Championship – pick up a copy of AOC 87, in shops on December 1.
