Johnson disappointed by CA's take on 'Big Three' playing Test cricket

Former cricketer Mitchell Johnson came out in strong criticism of Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg’s take on limiting the number of nations competing in the Test arena. For the unversed, Greenberg had recently advocated the playing of Test cricket between the top teams, which would help maintain financial balance as well as provide “quality contests”. 

According to the 54-year-old, “scarcity in Test cricket is our friend, not our foe”. He raised a point in relation to how forcing smaller nations to take part in the red-ball format could ultimately lead them towards a financial crisis. He shed light on the Ashes as being a prime indicator of rivalries between elite nations being directly proportional to increased revenue.

Johnson called for the profit-making boards like the CA to 'stop hoarding the privilege and start sharing the responsibility'. He highlighted the fact that a Sri Lanka-Pakistan type Test cricket contest will remain to mean a lot to the players and supporters.

“The solution isn’t to scale Test cricket down to three or four rich countries. It’s to help the rest grow. Players want it, fans want it — so why are we making it so hard? What these nations lack isn’t passion, it’s support. And if the ICC and the so-called Big Three want to protect the future, they need to stop hoarding the privilege and start sharing the responsibility,” wrote Johnson in his column for The West Australian.

“A Sri Lanka vs Pakistan series might not break streaming records, but to the players and fans, it means everything. You don’t protect that by cutting it off. You protect it by investing in it,” he added.

The former left-arm pacer also brought to light the irony of Test cricket being labelled “too expensive” of late. However, money has continued to pour into new franchise T20 leagues all over the world. In his piece, he also wrote about how the reigning World Test Championship champions South Africa did not have a single home Test slated for the upcoming summer.

“The money is there — it’s just being pointed the wrong way,” Johnson noted further.

Quality is important in Test, not quantity: Greenberg

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Quality is important in Test, not quantity: Greenberg

Speaking about Australia and their Test cricket, they are coming off a 2–0 series win against West Indies. Next up, they will take on arch-rivals England in the 2025–26 Ashes at home. The highly-anticipated series is set to get started on November 21 in a five-match assignment.