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Cricket Today
|July 2016
To save the face of Test cricket, the ICC has geared up to plan something new. Plans are afoot to introduce promotion and relegation...
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The longest format of the game is the most challenging one as a cricketer has to be at his best for five days. When Test cricket started in 1877, it was initially played for unlimited days but due to the toll on the body, it was finally reduced to five days. Apart from this, the Test matches have been played on covered and uncovered pitches, overs have been six or eight balls long, the balls have been delivered underarm and overarm and the number of teams have risen from two to ten. If this was not enough, the introduction of Umpire Decision Review System and Day Night Test matches have made this format more interesting. However, despite so much innovations, the game is struggling to stand in front of the limited overs cricket. The popularity of shorter formats is pretty high and the fans are not showing their interest in a five day game. To save the face of the oldest format, the ICC has geared up to plan something new. Plans are afoot to introduce promotion and relegation to revive and secure the future of Test cricket, says ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson. The ICC is looking at introducing two divisions into Test cricket as a way of reviving interest. “There’s a general realization now that, if we’re going to keep Test cricket going well into the future, we can’t just say it’s going to survive on its own,” said Richardson. “Unless we can give some meaning to these series beyond the rankings and a trophy, then interest in Test cricket will continue to waiver. The same applies if we allow uncompetitive Test cricket to take place too often. If we really want Test cricket to survive, we can’t have the number of Test teams diminishing. We have to create a proper competition structure which
This story is from the July 2016 edition of Cricket Today.
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