The Downfall of Test Cricket

Cricket was a sport that originated in England and grew in popularity when the sport was spread throughout England’s colonies. Today cricket has more than 2 billion followers and is the third most popular sport in the world. When cricket was first invented, players competed in the Test match format. Test cricket is the sport’s longest and most prestigious format. The term “Test” is used to describe the challenging duration of the game. Teams play a 4 innings match where they field/bowl for 2 innings and bat for 2 innings. Matches can last up to 5 days and sometimes do not even conclude with a result (draw).

In the recent years, test cricket has seen a decline in following and hype. People are less excited about the lengthy play and a lower number of fans attending the matches. Here’s why:

1. The rise of T20 and ODI format matches has caused Test cricket to become less popular. The main reason fans enjoy watching the new T20 (20 over) and ODI (One day International — 50 over) game format, is due to the timing of the games. Full T20 games can take less than 3 hours to conclude! This means fans can get a result for a match immediately, which boosts morale and helps fans stay engaged in the tournament/league. One Day Matches last for, as the name suggests, 1 day. Timing plays a huge role in the popularity of the format, as 3 hours versus 5 days is a huge difference. People have other things to do in life and are not patient enough, or do not have the attention span to wait for 5 days for a result.
2. Cricket boards prefer T20’s or ODI games in their schedule, rather than Test matches. This is because a main money source for these boards is fan base attending the match live. Because T20’s are so much shorter, many cricket boards can fit a whole series (5 matches) in 5 days (which is the length of 1 Test).
3. A lack of sustained competition is killing Test Cricket. Every other format has had a championship, whether it be the T20 World Cup, or the Champions Trophy (ODI format). Test Cricket has never had championship until it was announced 2 years ago. Even when the World Test Championship was announced, there was a relatively low excitement around it compared to the World Cup. Additionally, test series do not have any structure to them that creates hype. Two teams face off in 2–5 matches and whoever wins the most wins a trophy. That is the end of it. Another thing to consider is that many teams are either very weak or very strong. This results in a lack of enthusiasm as the fans already know who will win. On the other hand, in ODI’s or T20’s, the match can turn around very quickly, resulting in a nail biting finish.

These are only 3 of the core reasons Test Cricket is becoming less popular. Thank you all for reading my article and I hope to see you in the next one.