Test vs T20: Irrelevance looms large over the great format

In 1877, the first-ever Test match was played between Australia and England at the MCG. Players who played the match like Charles Bannerman would have never imagined a parent format of the game taking over the reigns of Test cricket, which is regarded to date as the ultimate format of the game by experts, players, and former cricketers.

Cricket as a sport has changed a lot over the years. In 1882, the term ‘Ashes’ came into the picture for the first time. Since then, the biggest rivalry in Test cricket emerged. To date, the two teams, England and Australia, have kept the Test culture alive. Unfortunately, not many teams have been able to embrace the culture of playing and watching the longest format, though some have attempted to do so.

In 1971, a Test match was set to take place between England and Australia. However, three days of the match were washed out. Hence, the entire match was abandoned and a 40-over per side match was played between the two sides. That was how the ODIs came into existence. A couple of years later, the first-ever women's ODI World Cup was played in 1973.

A couple of years later in 1975, the men's ODI World Cup was played. While the ODI World Cup still remains the biggest cricket tournament, and Test cricket still gets regarded as the ultimate form of the game, both formats play second fiddle to a parent format which was formed in the 21st century. The latest format has everything basically everyone wants. 

Here's a great explainer on the Test vs T20 debate: 

Advent of T20

T20 cricket was first proposed in 2001. It came into the picture in 2005 when Australia took on New Zealand in a one-off game. Two years later, the first-ever T20 World Cup was played in 2007 in South Africa. Following the success of the tournament, India decided to commercialise the format by introducing the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. 

16 years later, IPL has grown to be the giant it is today. It is the second biggest sports league in the world after the NFL. Every player wants to play the IPL, given how rich it is. Lives change just by a single contract in the league. Fans want to watch the league by paying thousands of rupees for a single ticket. Broadcasters fight for streaming rights given the amount of money involved in the league and the number of eyeballs it grabs. 

The popularity of T20s is insane. Recently, cricket was added back to the Olympics for the first time since 1900. It will be a part of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. It was obvious that a shorter format would be preferred for a mega event like the Olympics. There are opinions that regard T10, the emerging format of cricket, to be the right format to feature in the Olympics.

Giving fans what they want

T20 is suitable for everyone. People are so busy these days that they cannot just watch over 7 hours of cricket a day and do it for potentially 3-4 days or more. T20 cricket comes as a breath of fresh air. One needs to spend just about 4-5 hours to watch a T20 match, which is way too shorter than a Test match. At the same time, the definition of entertainment factor is bought by the fans.

More people love to see batters hit huge sixes and boundaries than a bowler delivering a peach of a delivery. More fans love to spend little time and get entertained than to get ‘bored’ by seeing batters defend the ball. As per the demand of the fans, the supply happens. And today, most major cricket-playing nations and even other emerging nations have a T20 league of their own.

Given the way things are heading, the experts are of the opinion that T20 cricket is destroying Test cricket. Many believe that Cricket could go Football way in the next few years, where a window of a few months could be created to accommodate international matches and the rest of the year would be played with T20 cricket. A major step of T20 cricket outclassing Test cricket in preference of the board was seen recently.

Early signs of T20's prominence over Test

South Africa was set to tour New Zealand for a Test series, which is a part of the World Test Championship (WTC). The International Cricket Association  (ICC) brought WTC into existence in order to revive Test cricket. So far, the biggest achievement for the format has been to reduce the number of draws and boring Test matches. However, have the boards found it a feasible format to make money?

South Africa announced a ‘B team’ to tour New Zealand, allowing the main players to be a part of their own T20 league, SA20. The experts were highly critical of the move of the Cricket South Africa (CSA). Many believed that it could be the first major step towards the decline of Test cricket. The argument of CSA was that the players who would tour New Zealand are as capable as the main players.

However, it was pretty much understandable that the boards want their key players to be available for the T20 leagues, where there is room for more money. At the end of the day, cricket cannot survive without money. T20 cricket is the one that feeds players. Fans except for England do not fill stadiums in the rest of the world for a Test match. The tradition of watching a 5-day Test match in stadiums has gradually declined.

Call for the 'Big 3' to save Test

There is a call from the fans to save Test cricket. The ‘big 3’ teams and cricket boards like India, England, and Australia are asked to revive Test cricket. Many fear that a format which has a rich history could vanish in a few years. Some of the players themselves do not want to play Tests anymore, as it takes a high level of skill to succeed in Tests.

However, succeeding in T20 cricket is relatively easy and one could fill their pockets as well. Many players have recently retired from Test at an early age seeing no future in the format. Many players tend to make themselves available for T20 leagues by making themselves unavailable for selections for their national team. These are growing concerns for Test cricket, which is regarded as the ultimate form of the game.