Our preparation has been predictably appalling though - that was Bairstow's and Currans first red ball innings of the year and Buttler's first since the first test in India. The ECB are prioritising white ball cricket and it shows. I can see us getting to the point where a player is one or the other but not both and given that all of the money is in white ball that's where all of the good players will go
Test cricket will get phased out. Its not important anymore. Up and coming batsmen will know that the harder and higher you hit the ball the more money you make. They'll not know how to defend which is essential in test cricket. I can see test cricket being reduced to 4 days at some point in the future.
It's there anyone playing county cricket making decent scores that could make the step up? Thing is though players are now seem to be focusing on T20 so they can tout themselves round the different leagues and make their money that way
In England, Australia and India, Test Cricket is sold out at every venue for 4 or even 5 days where applicable. It's still a massive money-maker for those 3 "super powers" in the game so i think it will still be the main form for the game for years to come. The issue is the smaller countries who play to near empty stadiums - where is the incentive to keep focusing on that form of the game, and as you state - players are growing up making more more money from bowling 4 overs, or smashing 20 runs in 10 balls twice a week than they do playing 5 days in a test match.....
Players like Boycott, who used to take all day to make 50, will be a thing of the past. Test match cricket, weather permitting, does not last 5 days anymore. Batsmen will not have the patience, there will always be that niggle in the back of their mind that they are gonna smash the next delivery......OUT! Batsmen will just will not be able to cope with the pressure and constraints of test cricket, why bother, when they can make their cash thwacking the ball around, and when they are out, well, what do you expect? they HAVE to thwack the ball around, it happens. A batsmans wicket isnt as precious anymore. Its turning into some form of British Baseball.
Sorry but that's a load of absolute codswallop. Batting has been poor for over 10 years? This while we have been regarded as the best test side in the world? Cook, Root and Stokes. There's 3 of the worlds best straight off the top of my head. How will our team be ripped apart when Anderson and Broad retire when we've been integrating the likes of Wood, Archer and Woakes for a while now? You could make a case that this next generation of bowlers are at least on par with Broad and Anderson these days. We have more than enough talent to remain one of the top test sides but I feel our weakness is with Root as captain but more importantly Chris Silverwood as our head coach because we seem to be going backwards since his arrival.
No disrespect mate but I think that's the problem with people watching test cricket these days. Yes not a lot happens and you really have to force yourself to stay with it at times but people turn it off. With all the white ball stuff around - 50 overs, T20 and now the Hundred there's more excitement and something happening most of the time and people will sit and watch.
is it not going the same a smost things these days though? kids no longer want to learn the likes of chess, i mean, spend time setting the board up and learning the various moves and strategies when all they need to do is switch a console on and have many games ready to go...letter writing is an art that most have lost/don't care about now when you can send an e-mail or DM on social media and get an almost instant reply...why study a map to work out how to get to a destination now when all you need do is type a postcode into a sat nav. we have all noticed it, these days it is all 'instant reward' that rules, building an innings is seen as pointless when you can just hit the ball hard every delivery and if you are out no one really cares, why spend possibly 5 days watching a sport that is probably more or less decided by day three when you can watch more than one game a day in the hundred...unfortunately i feel a change in football will follow, hopefully not anytime soon.
And that's the million dollar question - is it a change for the better? Like you say everybody wants things now rather than build towards something and get the reward at the end.
You could always make them watch it as a punishment! They'll behave themselves after watching 10 minutes
Test cricket! India in a technically worse position than England were yet a few hours ago they’d beat us declaring on 90/0!
