Former South African captain Graeme Smith has yet again expressed fear over the future of Test cricket, saying only five or six countries may be playing the longest format in the coming years.
He further said that only big nations are contributing to the development of Test cricket at the moment while hailing Virat Kohli’s captaincy in the longest format of the game, under whom India took the Tests seriously and took the game to another level.
Graeme Smith said on 'Sky Sports': “With Test cricket, it's just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment. I think it's fantastic especially under Virat Kohli that India really took Test cricket seriously. They lead the way with that.”
He added, “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.”
Meanwhile, IPL owners bought all six teams in the CSA’s new T20 league, and the commissioner of the league welcomed the investment that South Africa needed to keep up with top nations.
Smith explained, “It's certainly going to be an investment into our game that South African cricket desperately needed. 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.”
Speaking on CSA’s decision to cancel a three-match ODI series in Australia, he said: “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.”
Smith signed off by saying, “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.”
(With PTI Inputs)
