Happy Birthday, Test Cricket!

Fenil

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Jan 1, 2011
The father of all other formats, Test cricket completes 135 years today! I personally love this format as I think its one format that tests skill, temperament, fitness level everything you could think. I feel this is the format through which a cricketer is tested and gets to showcase his skill. It has changed a lot over the years but for me, it still remains the best format. I hope there are many others you love Test cricket.
 
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angryangy

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You can do it too, by getting all the way out of bed. No half measures, do it properly.
 

VC the slogger

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Playing Test cricket should be the ultimate goal for young players.ODIs and T20s have more money involved but Test Cricket is the actual cricket that tests mind,body and skill..
 

teamindia

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Playing Test cricket should be the ultimate goal for young players.ODIs and T20s have more money involved but Test Cricket is the actual cricket that tests mind,body and skill..

Comrades working in a govt. company should be the ultimate goal for young people. Private companies have more money involved but govt company is what tests their patience, integrity and helps contribute towards the welfare of the state.

Test cricket has been wasting everyones time for 133 years :noway:noway
 
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AngryPixel

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Comrades working in a govt. company should be the ultimate goal for young people. Private companies have more money involved but govt company is what tests their patience, integrity and helps contribute towards the welfare of the state.

Test cricket has been wasting everyones time for 133 years :noway:noway

:facepalm Seriously mate... :eek:
 

teamindia

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:facepalm Seriously mate... :eek:

Serious :thumbs

Noone has time to watch test matches. If the game has to survive and globalize test cricket is not the way. It is not financially attractive as well. It will die slowly. If people want to watch test matches they can always go and attend domestic games which are in need of support. We all know what is going to happen (in atleast 80% of the cases) in most test matches these days. The remaining 10% would be painful draws which will make you sleep and the rest would be interesting games with changing fortunes.
 
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Gaurav_7

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Personally, I like Cricket. Be it whatever format, I don't really care. T20 excluded. I prefer only the T20 WC. Agreed people don't have that much time to watch Test Cricket. But, I feel it is exciting if you want to watch real Cricket. I myself didn't watch much of it earlier. It was the last Ashes series which got me going tbh.

One nice morning, I had some college work and had to complete it. I woke up early, put on the TV set, saw Eng-Aus playing. From then on, I always got up early to catch some action at least. Those amazing bowling spells from bowlers of both the teams, those battles which the batsmen fought to survive in the middle, the intensity, it was perfect!

Test Cricket shouldn't go. But, the overkill of shortest format should be controlled. People should feel the excitement when there's a T20 tournament around (Doubt that's the case nowadays). Test Cricket will be the pinnacle, always!
 

barmyarmy

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Serious :thumbs

Noone has time to watch test matches. If the game has to survive and globalize test cricket is not the way. It is not financially attractive as well. It will die slowly. If people want to watch test matches they can always go and attend domestic games which are in need of support. We all know what is going to happen (in atleast 80% of the cases) in most test matches these days. The remaining 10% would be painful draws which will make you sleep and the rest would be interesting games with changing fortunes.

That's a very sad and depressing view point that you believe that. For me test cricket is the pinnacle of performance and the pinnacle of entertainment. The ebb and flow, the individual battles and the sustained heroic performances are what make it stand head and shoulders above any other form of cricket.
I worry that your view is increasingly a majority one in India.
 

sifter132

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Noone has time to watch test matches.

Well it depends what you mean. Not many people are going to watch every ball of a 5 day match, but then again how many people watch every ball of a one day match? If your 5 day attendances are more than 1 day, or your total viewers for 5 days are greater than a 1 day game, shouldn't that be good enough to keep Tests going?

We all know what is going to happen (in atleast 80% of the cases) in most test matches these days.

Maybe when India is on tour :D Jokes aside, there's been a few great Test matches in the last few months, starting with the Ind-WI tie, the Aus-SA Test in Joburg, NZ beating Aus in Hobart. Zimbabwe pushed NZ in a Test last Sep. The latest NZ-SA Test was pretty good for the first innings too. Pakistan smashed England despite them being world #1. I think Test cricket is doing pretty well from a competitive standpoint.
 

teamindia

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Well it depends what you mean. Not many people are going to watch every ball of a 5 day match, but then again how many people watch every ball of a one day match? If your 5 day attendances are more than 1 day, or your total viewers for 5 days are greater than a 1 day game, shouldn't that be good enough to keep Tests going?

This is the financial details of the old BCCI contract

Nimbus retain telecast rights for cricket | India Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo

"The deal is fixed at Rs 31.25 crore (approximately $6.6 million) per match, whether a Test, ODI or Twenty20"

Given international cricket is what runs the entire cricket infrastructure in India and they are being repeatedly accussed of a packed schedule , I am not sure why they would be playing a 5 day game instead of 1 or 2 T20s/ODIs when they get the same amout of money. This is especially true when India is out of form overseas. I have not watched more than 10-15 overs (per match) in the just concluded Ind-Aus test matches. From a players point of view why would they want to work more than what is required. They are professionals in the business of making money.

There was some market study about IPL and they concluded one of the reasons why it has been popular with marketers was Indians will always have an Indian team to support. This makes sure there is interest in the competition from start to finish. T20's and ODIs have more chance of making viewers stick long since the chance of one sided defeat for India is low :D


Maybe when India is on tour :D Jokes aside, there's been a few great Test matches in the last few months, starting with the Ind-WI tie, the Aus-SA Test in Joburg, NZ beating Aus in Hobart. Zimbabwe pushed NZ in a Test last Sep. The latest NZ-SA Test was pretty good for the first innings too. Pakistan smashed England despite them being world #1. I think Test cricket is doing pretty well from a competitive standpoint.

Eng. smashed India despite us being #1 :lol :lol And that turned me and many Indian fans away for cricket :noway:noway Test cricket is good in patches. As you mentioned NZ-SA was good for the first innings. So why not play a 50 over match :D We all know unless there is a miracle, NZ is going to lose the test match. NZ-Zib was unexpected and good. But who is watching them?? Zib was infact making loss everytime they were playing NZ.

Financial losses mar Zimbabwe's Test return | Cricket News | Zimbabwe v Bangladesh | ESPN Cricinfo

India and SL were supposed to play test matches later this year. SLC specifically requested that Test matches be changed to T20s since they want cash to run the board

Sri Lanka keen to host IPL matches - Rediff.com Cricket

Test matches require a lot of talent, physical and mental strength. It may be the "pinnacle" of the game. But it is currently destroying many boards financially. It is not attractive for marketers as well. It is vital to let it go for the existance of cricket. It will be missed by true cricket fans but it will make sure the game survives and brings in new fans. Who knows they may make a come back in another 25 years :thumbs
 
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Dare

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Happy birthday test cricket. The best cricket!
If the West Indies became the #1 t20 side or ODI side I would not care about it as much until they became the #1 in tests. Its what its all about, the true test of a cricketer.
 

angryangy

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Oct 1, 2004
I honestly doubt if 'people' have ever had time to watch Test matches. It hails from the industrial era, shortly after the start of the labour movement. It was a time when there was lots of mining and factory work in the most advanced nations and these people had to work 12 hours a day. Yet cricket was thriving.

By the 1920s, cricket had mutated from one driven by aristocrats to one defined more by regional competition. In the golden era when it was only possible to follow a match in person or via newspapers. However, the average working week in many industrial countries was still 50 hours. Flex time and holiday pay were still a ways off for the workforce. How is it possible that eighty thousand people, in a town of only 1 million might turn out not once but three times for Test cricket in Melbourne in 1937?

Over time, the access of the sport has opened up manifold beyond the original definition. English captains no longer need to be Lords, the subcontinent no longer the domain of Maharajas or Nawabs. West Indian and South African teams could even be lead by coloured people.

In the 20th century, one could follow the sport remotely via radio, or even television. Air travel meant one did not have to spend months abroad to make travel worthwhile. The 1970s brought the concept of sitting on the couch all day to watch a broadcast. Soon after, came the one day game, with light towers forever expanding the available time slots for which spectators could attend.

Yet we today waffle about how nobody has time. We have more time than ever, many of us more disposable income too. We can take days off, even take a few hours off here and there. We can watch events live from the other side of the world, even pause and record them to watch at our own will. We can watch sport on the telephone!

It's strange to think how all this has somehow put more emphasis on admission. Cricket was one of the first sporting events to charge admission. The concept arose because someone realised they could make money from all the people going to see the game. Yet, when the grounds had a monopoly, tickets were cheap. Well into the 20th century it was a matter of shillings, perhaps equivalent of a fiver for modern people. The demand at Lords is such now that they're upwards of 40 quid. The price can only rise in England because the grounds are easily filled. If elsewhere attendance is suffering, then perhaps they need to consider supply and demand principles.

Thusly, cricket in Australia, after seemingly hitting rock bottom last summer, appears to be doing well. Overall attendance was second only to the 06/07 Ashes season. More than three quarters of Australians watched some cricket this summer. Participation was up 5% and the figures for junior cricket have been most impressive.

Modern economists and researchers support an ever shrinking working week to better spread wealth and tasks across the growing population. If there is really a problem with reaching spectators in this day and age, then it is a matter of reaching the audience's demands. We are not too busy.
 

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