![]() ![]() In SA, the percentage of Tests finishing in the final 58 overs is so negligible it is inconsequential. If each day had 98 overs scheduled rather than the current 90, which happens anyway in the event of a bit of rain, the match would be just 58 overs shorter than the current five-day Tests. Such a scenario would have worked perfectly for the current series. Three days off between Tests means another Thursday start and a three-Test series is concluded in exactly three weeks. Starting on Thursday virtually guarantees a full day’s play on Saturday with the conclusion most likely on Sunday. The vast majority of Test matches in SA finish before the final day anyway and four-day cricket fits the calendar perfectly. One way in which more Test cricket could be played is straightforward: make the matches four days. The second problem was the attitude towards Test cricket and the third was the length of the matches. By the time the Tests were fixtured, those were the only days remaining. There were three problems with the scheduling of the West Indies tour: it was arranged “backwards” with as many as possible of the T20Is and ODIs placed on weekends and public holidays. Once India leave these shores after playing just two Tests in January, it will be another full year before Test cricket is played in SA again. Cricket SA disingenuously allows the ICC narrative to continue when it is they that have in fact allowed the current Test schedule to materialise. The host nations need to drive their own content - the international governing body merely ring-binds the fixtures. It was pitiful and did nothing to support the players’ call for more Test cricket.Ĭalls for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to “address” the disparity in the number of Tests played by India, England and Australia compared with the “small seven” nations are largely misinformed. ![]() On the first day of both matches the paying crowd was less than 300. Starting the Test matches on a Tuesday and Wednesday, out of holiday season, gave neither union a chance. The scheduling was an act of self-harm, however. Tony de Zorzi was solid and stylish in the second Test and Gerald Coetzee was a bubbling torrent of pace and energy. His response to coach Shukri Conrad’s firm reminder of that fact during the first match at Centurion Park was reassuringly emphatic. Though it is an eternity before the next game against India at the end of the year, there was enough to enthuse about through the winter.Īiden Markram is and always was a Test opener. The Proteas said goodbye to Test cricket for nine months with a fittingly resounding victory by 284 runs at the Wanderers to conclude a 2-0 series victory against an outclassed West Indies. ![]()
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