India v Australia 2013

TheGame

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How many countries do you think play Test Cricket again? Not many last time I checked, and when you have one of the biggest and some many others declining you're in a bit of trouble I would have thought.

Hell Australia probably still get the best test crowds too so the fact it's doomed there should be enough to have the alarm bells ringing.

At the end of the day most of the cricket boards around prefer the shorter forms of the game and will continue to into the future. The longer form is dying out, it's sad but it's happening. There are about two nations where isn't going alright. But it's going great KM, don't worry.
All the countries seem to be playing test cricket at the moment, all over the world. :confused:
 

Wibble

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Grass roots cricket is definitely dying in the UK. The game is now only ever played in grammar and private schools, and that to a lesser extent. You'll hardly see kids with a bat and a ball playing in parks. County circuit in England is struggling financially, with most clubs reporting losses every year. I'm not sure how long that can carry on. India is probably keeping cricket in business.
That was the case when I was a kid. I'd never really seen a cricket bat before I went to High School. As a scholarship kid at a fee paying Grammar School I was horrified to also find out that they didn't play football.
 

Tabata

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All the countries seem to be playing test cricket at the moment, all over the world. :confused:
10 countries play Test Cricket.

You are exactly right, Tabata. We have already lost West Indies; Australia, Pakistan and India are on their way. I give test cricket 5 more years.
5 years is pushing it a little bit there ;) but you can add Sri Lanka and New Zealand to that list as well. Bangladesh Cricket doesn't have the infrastructure, Zimbabwe is finished. In fact the country that has any real prospect of becoming a Test nation (if there is going to be another) is Ireland and they have most of their top players poached away by England so the future isn't looking so bright.
 

Moby

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This isn't the first time such concerns have been raised. Fact is what it takes to keep Test Cricket going are leaders. They can be anyone, captains, selectors, board presidents, coaches. You need people who value test cricket and put immense effort to drill it into the players, encourage it via funding and resources, etc. I don't think theyre lacking at present than any time before, and surely we will keep on having such individuals and not worry about the death of the sport.
 

Nighteyes

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All the people reminiscing about the good old days of cricket can just feck of as far as I am concerned. Test cricket will still be alive and kicking in 5 years time, no doubt about that.

Saw much of them, did you?
:lol:

Even if he had seen them, there's no way you compare sides from two completely different eras.
 

Moby

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This would be the best England team I have seen. They are better than Michael Atherton letting Glenn McGrath take him for a ride. But I am sure they had better players in previous eras. Of course these players are still playing so it is not fair to compare. Cook would probably go down as one of the greatest players to come from England. That kind of suits their history as I think England have had the best riches of openers out of all nations over the years.
 

KM

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Saw much of them, did you?
All the people reminiscing about the good old days of cricket can just feck of as far as I am concerned. Test cricket will still be alive and kicking in 5 years time, no doubt about that.



:lol:

Even if he had seen them, there's no way you compare sides from two completely different eras.
It's the Caf.

Someone just mentioned a bloke who stopped playing cricket in 1934. The mind boggles sometimes.
 

KM

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All the people reminiscing about the good old days of cricket can just feck of as far as I am concerned. Test cricket will still be alive and kicking in 5 years time, no doubt about that.
The good ol' days of test cricket.

Where Australia were absolutely dominating the world. Most of the test matches resulted in draws. Some of the pitches were absolutely dead. Crowds weren't there.

Also NZ and WI are rebuilding and will have good test match sides in the next two-three years. Ditto for Pakistan, if they find some good test batsmen.
 

Tabata

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Yes, the good ol' days when Tests were the pinnacle and was actually played to a good standard. Most of them care about 20/20 money nowadays, not Tests.

And if you're relying on the likes of New Zealand or the West Indies to help revives Test Cricket then you really are scraping the bottom of the barrel I'm afraid.

Test Cricket is dead in the West Indies. Just let it go people. They're not coming back.

New Zealand are just making up the numbers (barely). Test Cricket has peaked there a long time ago. They're irrelevant.
 

Utd heap

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Test cricket is thriving in England - we get better crowds for tests now than ever before.
County level is struggling.

Can't really comment with any authority on elsewhere, but i think this sort of thing is usually cyclical (sp?).
Probably discussed in 1985 too.
 

Tabata

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Yes, they were discussing the impact 20/20 was having on Tests in 1985.
 

Utd heap

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Obviously not what i was saying. They were probably outraged at the colour of ODI kits.
 

Tabata

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ODI didn't have the same impact 20/20 have had on Tests. Not to mention Cricket was generally more popular back then in most countries than it is now.

And saying it's cyclical is just a cop out. Test Cricket has never faced the problems it has now and into the future.
 

KM

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As I said you were very quiet about these problems when Aussies thrashed us 4-0. You're actually sounding like Liverpool fans who moan about the quality of Champions League now days now that they don't qualify for it.

Test Cricket is thriving in SA and England. It's getting rejuvenated in India. The world of cricket doesn't start and end in Australia, I'm afraid.
 

Donaldo

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To be fair KM, you seem absolutely blind to the problems Test cricket is facing. We've gone over this before so no point wasting more time on someone who seems to lack basic awareness.
 

KM

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To be fair KM, you seem absolutely blind to the problems Test cricket is facing. We've gone over this before so no point wasting more time on someone who seems to lack basic awareness.
That's a bit of an unnecessary dig(if that's towards me).

and I'm not blind to the problems. But then again I'm also not buying the fact that Test Cricket is dying just because pinnacle nations like Australia are facing problems.
 

Donaldo

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Hehe, sorry I was being a bit of a WUM there.

Jury's out on the future of Test cricket. To me the success of the format depends on how many more nations adopt the sport along with the lesser nations producing top quality players, not the riff-raff you see now. On those counts, we seem to be facing a grim future.

Sults is right about the India funding cricket overall to a large extent. Whether the circus that is the IPL eventually results in more positives than megatives is again something we will have to wait a few years to see. IMO, it'll be packing up in a few years.
 

TheGame

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I think Test Cricket will remain for a few years yet. Ok we haven't got a completely dominant team at the moment (SA the closest) and perhaps any of the characters that put cricket on the map e.g Warne, Murali etc but that doesn't mean test cricket is in decline. The differences between teams is not as big as it used to be without there being a team dominating all. There is a packed test calendar in the year and yes it would be great if we can get more countries involved and that should be the aim rather than focusing purely on the shorter formats of the game.
 

Dargonk

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Looking at the Aussie team. Can't see any match winners in there at all bar Clark. Seems to be a rather weak team
 

Tabata

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But then again I'm also not buying the fact that Test Cricket is dying just because pinnacle nations like Australia are facing problems.
There are 10 Test Cricket nations, and since there are so many of them facing serious problems when it comes to Tests/First Class Cricket would be enough to suggest that the longer form of the game is facing a gloomy future.

And the fact that Australia is one of those countries just highlights that problem. Like it or not Australia has played a massive part in Test Cricket. They shut down their First Class competition for nearly two months to play 20/20 this year. First Class Cricket is doomed there and good luck having Test Cricket without them. At a time like this Test Cricket needs anybody on board and right now most are looking to jump ship.
 

Widnes

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Seems like aus have had a good start but I can't possibly stay up to watch anymore cricket.
 

KM

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Aussies won't win this now. Hopefully they're just waiting for Starc's century before declaring.
 

zing

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Dhawan, what the feck?

Have always liked his driving when watching him play in the IPL.
 

zing

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Don't know if Dhawan's the opener for us, but it is good to see 2 players who value their wicket.

I hope to never see Gambhir and Sehwag again. Terrible attitudes.
 

Sultan

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Great mustache!

He never slogged. Genuine cricket shots.

Joy to watch!!!
 

KM

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That was a joy to watch. Amazing by Dhawan.
 

KM

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Don't know if Dhawan's the opener for us, but it is good to see 2 players who value their wicket.

I hope to never see Gambhir and Sehwag again. Terrible attitudes.
Been very impressed by Vijay. Looks to have matured a lot.
 

Dargonk

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Heading towards a draw it seems. India nearly 170 not out. Can see them getting a big score and then trying to bowl the aussies out. Can see the Aussies collapsing and losing it as an outside possability
 

coolredwine

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Have to say, I have no idea why the selectors kept Dhawan out of the Indian team for so long. Was just going through his stats, and this is his first international test match, at the age of 27. It was very well known when he broke through in the domestic scene that he is a very good batsman. Great to see him making an impression now.

191/0 now. The Indians just don't want to use any sorta lube at the moment.