The debate about the future of cricket rages on. It was ever thus!
Red ball cricket is under threat around the world. The white ball game has taken over as a priority in the minds of many cricketers, whether traditionalists like it, or not. Securing better income, longer-term financial security, and signing up for short duration tournaments employed by wealthy franchise owners as opposed to long international tours under the banner of a National Governing Body has more appeal for many, arguably most modern cricketers.
Can test cricket survive? Will t20 franchise leagues cannibalise the traditional red-ball format of first-class cricket around the world? How can the money-driven short-form game be curtailed in its’ growth and dominance to ensure the traditional format can still find space in the calendar to thrive?
One solution is for test cricket to be played less often, and have a priority slot in the summer of each country’s cricket season. Traditionally, this has happened with Boxing Day test matches being staged at Melbourne Cricket Ground and New Year test matches being staged at Newlands and at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Years ago, Lord’s Cricket Ground used to host the second test of a 5 match series, and due to its’ popularity as a venue and its’ capacity, Lord’s became a cash-cow for ECB and MCC hence the opportunity to host wo test matches per year. Next week, South Africa begin their 3 match test series at The Home of Cricket.
Earlier in this wonderful, hot and dry summer of 2022, we were treated to another classic test match when Joe Root’s excellence with the bat led England to victory over New Zealand. It was the start of Ben Stokes’ captaincy and the beginning of Brendon McCullum’s reign as England coach.
The transformation we have seen in terms of results and in the personality of the team has been nothing short of remarkable. Full credit to them, their team, and Rob Key the new England Managing Director of Men’s Cricket. The style of play and the successful results achieved has whetted the appetite of the majority of cricket fans in advance of the upcoming series v South Africa. Wednesday 15th August promises to be a special day – not just because it is a pleasure to see South Africa at Lord’s again – but because test match cricket resumes in England.
Can Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes re-start their engines and be on full horse power from the first day of the series? Or will the break for white ball cricket impact their rhythm and good form?
Will James Anderson be able to re-discover his best form and re-produce the level of excellence for which he has become globally renowned? Can Stuart Broad continue to dis-prove the critics and maintain his position as one of the most threatening bowlers in terms of getting on ‘hot-streaks’ of wicket-taking in the rich history of English cricket? Or will Jamie Overton (if fit?) and Ollie Robinson (if fit?) or Mark Wood (if fit?) fill the breach? Can Chris Woakes regain fitness for the last test? Is Craig Overton going to improve sufficiently by adding the necessary extra pace, late movement, and greater accuracy, to become a successful test match bowler? Will Jofra Archer play test cricket again? Or, might it be time to look at the ever-improving Reece Topley in test cricket and allow him to build further upon his excellence for England in the white-ball formats for England?
Can Ben Foakes continue to establish himself as a gloveman of admirable quality capable of being as good in front of the stumps as he is behind them? Or will Middlesex’s excellent wicket-keeper batsman John Simpson’s challenge for a test place continue apace and see him earn selection for the winter tours to Pakistan and New Zealand?
Will Jack Leach prove his worth as a frontline spinner in test match cricket by building upon his success at Headingley where his 10 wickets in the match was a triumph both for the team, his captain and the leadership approach of giving 100% backing to ‘the chosen few’.
And, while on the subject of ‘the chosen few’, can Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, and Ollie Pope justify the backing being given to them? As individuals, should they fail in this series v SA, will they be persevered with during the winter tours? Can they do enough to earn guaranteed selection for the next phase of England’s test match cricket team’s metamorphis under Stokes and McCullum?
Will the previously unknown and unfancied Ben Compton move through the field of candidates and prove himself to be the long-term answer to England’s test match batting woes at the top of the order? Might Keaton Jennings come again? Or Ben Duckett?
From England’s perspective, there is much at stake in this upcoming much-awaited test series. And, for certain individuals, their test careers may be on the line. It promises to be a fascinating time for cricket followers over the coming weeks.
As a long-term regular visitor to South Africa where I played and coached for 20 years, I am delighted to see them back playing international cricket – a fact that most people could not foresee back in the mid 1980’s when I first started travelling south during the English winters.
South Africa has produced some of the world’s leading cricketers – the likes of Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Mike Proctor, Clive Rice, Vince van der Bijl, Jimmy Cook, Peter Kirsten, Kepler Wessels, Ray Jennings, Brian McMillan, Daryll Cullinan, Gary Kirsten, Allan Donald, and Shaun Pollock. Many other excellent players were also developed in a strong school and club cricket pyramid around the country and the power of the Nuffield Provincial Cricket Week and earning selection for SA Schools side to play against the men’s full provincial side where the Nuffield Week was being hosted created a heaven-sent opportunity that all the best aspiring cricketers in South Africa yearned to be part of. In later years, ‘the new South Africa’ continued to develop top-class cricketers and provide greater opportunity for players of all backgrounds and the international landscape was able to appreciate the sublime gifts of players such as Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Makhya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla.
Now that selection is open to players of all backgrounds in their beautiful country, the pool of players has grown since the country’s re-admission to international cricket in 1992 and now the likes of Kagiso Rabada, and Lungi Ngidi can lead their attack. Traditionally, South Africa has placed high priority on developing new-ball pairings to spearhead their bowling attacks but in this series in England, with the exceptionally hot weather contributing to dry pitches, it might be the turn of spin to dominate the contest. In Keshav Maharaj, South Africa has a bowler determined to prove his quality. Might he be the best left arm spinner since Omar Henry to come out of South Africa?
From Basil D’Oliveira to Omar Henry, many top-class non-white cricketers were denied opportunity to play test cricket for South Africa but today, thankfully, the landscape is different. Greater opportunity for all exists (on the sports field at least) for non-white South Africans.
The affirmative action policy in terms of team selection in South Africa has led to many white cricketers seeking their fame and fortune in England. It has been what some psychologists refer to as ‘a messy unintended consequence’ off the back of a well-intentioned idea. From Kevin Petersen to Jonathan Trott, Nick Compton, through to modern day players such as Keaton Jennings and Ben Compton, ambitious young South African cricketers chose to build their career and make a long-term home in England. Most recently, Essex CCC has been the beneficiary of Simon Harmer’s decision to move countries and play under the Kolpak registration opportunity first taken advantage of by Claude Henderson at Leicestershire CCC in 2003.
Today, Harmer is regarded as an overseas player because of his decision to play test cricket again for the country of his birth. Duanne Olivier is another individual who has taken advantage of the cricketing opportunity and the financial advantage of the Rand/£ exchange rate, and then returned to play for their country when the opportunity arose. Despite vocal criticism of the Kolpak system, many South African players have added value to the English system by improving the standard of play in the county game and thus have given greater meaning to performances in County Championship cricket by English players because of the quality of the test match standard of bowling they provide at a time when England’s test match bowlers have been (largely) excluded from county cricket.
Simon Harmer’s experience of success in county cricket and his knowledge of English grounds and pitches will help him in this series if he is selected to perform a pivotal role. Will South Africa select two spinners? Or will they look to Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, and Anrich Nortje to provide ‘the hurry up’ that traditional south African bowling attacks have done to English batsmen down the years?
I have a sense that Harmer could be the danger man in this series and England would be wise to consider attacking him at Lord’s to see if they can put him off his game at Lord’s and potentially take him out of the series. Irrespective of Harmer’s excellent results in county cricket, he has yet to deliver top-class performances at test level and there may be some deep doubts in his psyche about his ability to perform at the highest level. Can England bring such doubts to the fore, especially with their new-found attacking approach to batting under the leadership of the inspirational all rounder Ben Stokes?
Can Dean Elgar continue to fashion out runs in his own inimitable pragmatic way? Can Aiden Markram prove he has the application as wel las the ability to become a top-class test match batsman? Will Keegan Petersen prove that he is one of the most exciting emerging talents in world cricket? And will Rassie van der Dussen reveal his class in the test match arena in the manner he has proven in the white ball format?
Whether the current crop of inexperienced test match cricketers can deliver on the big stage next week at Lord’s remains to be seen. But, I think at some point, whether it be Old Trafford or at The Oval in the final test of the series, I expect a couple of spin bowlers to have a golden opportunity to make their mark on the cricket world. Will it be Harmer? Maharaj? Or Leach? Or will it be the batsmen who triumph in the contest?
My prediction for the series result is 2-1 England. The drawn match is unlikely to be an option under Stokes and McCullum, and I sense England is on a roll after a remarkable first half of the summer.
Test cricket itself can be the genuine winner from this much-expected series.
It promises to be ‘a cracker’. Roll on Wednesday 17th August at Lord’s!