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Cricket Players‘You might have only five or six Test playing nations’: Graeme Smith
Smith said, "With Test cricket, it's just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment. You might only be down to five or six nations that play Test cricket at this level."
Test cricket has been on the decline for quite some time now with diminishing support, viewership and sponsors outside the top five-six nations. The rapid mushrooming of T20 leagues around the world is further putting pressure on the relevance of the longest format of the game. Joining the debate, former South Africa Captain Graeme Smith has put his perspectives and logic on the issue, as Cricket South Africa's(CSA) T20 league commissioner.
Speaking to Sky Sports during the England vs South Africa Test at Lord's, Smith said, "With Test cricket, it's just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment." Adding further, he said "I think it's fantastic especially under Virat Kohli that India really took Test cricket seriously. They lead the way with that. But as long as we've got competitive teams, you're not going to have 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 competitive teams. You might only be down to five or six nations that play Test cricket at this level."
Smith explained why South Africa would be playing fewer Tests in coming years and no three-Test series in the 2023-2025 World Test Championship (WTC). He highlighted the revenue aspect of T20 leagues and big money that South Africa needs to keep Cricket standards high in the country. Talking about the investment received for CSA T20 league, he said "It's certainly going to be an investment into our game that South African cricket desperately needed."
Elaborating further Smith added, "The pressures on nations like New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa to stay financially sustainable to keep up with England, India, and the world game to stay competitive is hugely important. I don't think world cricket can afford South Africa or any one of the top nations to start fading away."
In the light of upcoming T20 league, South Africa havee even risked its qualification to the ODI World Cup 2023 as they have forfeited three ODIs in Australia in January next year, which formed part of the direct-qualification pathway for the 50-over World Cup. “For four weeks of an entire year, the priority will be the league. I feel that if we hadn't done this South African cricket could have probably lost eight to ten players to this UAE league( referring to UAE T20 League in 2023),” Smith added.
“People also look at those three ODIs wrong. Yes, South Africa hasn't handled ODI cricket as well and it should never be in this position. But for South Africa to be in Australia out of their key part of the summer financially is a huge stress for them. It's like asking England not to play during your summer. The commitment that South African cricket made to go for the three Test matches is good for the game. It's something that won't happen often,” he continued.
Reportedly, in Future Tour Programs(FTP) South Africa will play fewer ODIs than any of the other Full Members of Cricket. They will have to negotiate with other cricket boards for additional matches.
