Cricket or Commerce?

Test Cricket lived up to its billing as the pinnacle of the 3 forms of the game as Australia managed to crawl past the line against South Africa in the second of the two matches. Lots to like about what went on in the field, Philander and Cummins making memorable debuts, Cummins being the fourth bowler to pick up a man of the match award on his debut in the space of a month, Ponting, Haddin, Clarke performing under pressure, et al. But there was disappointment in the length of these matches. I wouldn’t call this a series, as a series would imply that it was a long fought war in which each team went through troughs and peaks and the team with the least troughs won out. This “series” was not even up to the modern convention of being composed of 3 matches. How did it come to pass?

Sandwiched into a calendar, a third match was instead replaced by two T20’s, and this has stopped us from witnessing the most entertaining rivalry of recent years in the longer format reach a satisfying conclusion. This is completely related to the commerce of the game, and the fans might cry themselves hoarse over how cricket has sold its soul for a quick buck. But it is the only way forward. If Hockey had been made into a sport with high pay packets, it might still have been the eminent sport of our country.

The fact we most need to realize is that cricket (sadly) is not the only sport in the world and that’s why broadcasters need to play around with timings. If the games aren’t short enough, then they might not get covered. If the games are too short, then the people paying for advertisement slots do not get their return on investment. Tests, which can be on either of the two extremes, make it a very risky business proposition. The first match of Australia Vs. South Africa was entertaining, but it left a lot of people with a lot of money invested in a difficult place.

This is why the ODI’s are current favourites of the men with the money as they are comparatively risk free. The alternative is to create pitches which last 5 days and that has produced games that have led to speculation about the death of Test matches. The common argument is that people can no longer spare five days to watch a Test Match. The truth, according to this fan, is that we now watch more cricket than we have ever had, and it is the dilution of the sport as an event that has led to the declining interest in Test Matches. In an age of gluttony, Tests are the biggest meal of them all. No wonder that we are shying away from them at an increasing pace.

As much as I hate to admit, the only way to ensure Test Cricket survives is through increased profitability and that means handing it over to our not so beloved administrators and let the ad men try to sell the game. This means we will be sidelined and pushed and prodded into an inconsequential mass whose needs and wants will not be catered to. The choice is this, do we allow this takeover of the administrators as principal stake holders of our game or do we let the game’s revenues fall and allow it to die prematurely? The choice is not an easy one to make, but is one that is creeping up on us.