Spin legend Shane Warne wants administrators to ask current players about what needs to be done to restore the value of Test cricket
Spin legend Shane Warne wants administrators to ask current players about what needs to be done to restore the value of Test cricket
Shane Warne is the latest to lend his voice to the crescendo of serious concern expressed by past and present players, administrators and the media over the parlous situation of Test cricket around the world which, if not addressed effectively, could result in the traditional game becoming extinct.
"It (Test cricket) is still big in Australia, England and India, but it is poorly attended in a lot of other countries and that's a concern. If we are not careful it will hit us so quickly that it's dying," the spin legend writes in his syndicated column.
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"Test cricket to me and to a lot of the other ex-players and public is a great form of the game. It has to remain the ultimate, we need to promote it, push and play an attacking form of cricket. It's where you're judged, earn your respect and get to show what makes you tick.
"The International Cricket Council and Cricket Australia should lead the way and do something now u2013 ask the players what they think should be done.
Joke
"Please no more greed with these ridiculous seven-match one-day series. It's a joke for public and the players," Warne writes.
Meanwhile, Australian pace bowler Peter Siddle is undecided about whether he will accept an offer from the Indian Premier League (IPL), if one comes along, as seems likely.
The likely successor to Test pace spearhead Brett Lee said yesterday: "At this stage I haven't really thought about it. We have plenty of cricket coming up this summer then in New Zealand so there is still a lot of time to worry about what I am going to do about that, so I am just focused on playing for Australia."
Siddle endured a crushing schedule that saw him away from home for almost a year before having to return from the recent tour of India with a side strain.
Meanwhile many Australian young fast bowlers are reportedly contemplating jumping aboard the lucrative IPL bandwagon in pursuit of riches that make attractive homes and cars possible.
Strike bowler Mitchell Johnson has opted for country over lucre for the time being, turning down IPL big bucks to preserve his body. However, it remains to be seen which way Siddle goes when shove comes to push when faced with harsh commercial reality.
Beware...
Asking young Australian players to "beware the big money lure of the IPL", noted cricket commentator Peter Roebuck noted in his column yesterday: "Australia"s best young cricketers ought to think long and hard before rushing down IPL's yellow brick road. Naturally it is tempting to go for the quick buck, or rather a quick million."
Roebuck continues:u00a0 "Numerous IPL players have returned with dreadful injuries, rotten form or soft brains."
He writes: "Playing a few 20-overs games might not seem much of a commitment, but bad habits can easily set in. It's only possible to attend so many parties and emerge intact. A lot of damage can be done in that period. Although other factors were involved, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and Muttiah Muralitharan have all struggled to struggle from their first IPL campaign.
"Nor has much been seen of bright sparks such as Ajantha Mendis or Shaun Marsh. For that matter Ishant Sharma and Ravi Bopara have gone backwards.
"India cannot find any youngsters to challenge its ageing champions. None of them have progressed. Some of them have become front- foot sweepers."
Neglected
Roebuck says IPL suits older players on the way out and "neglected cricketers anxious to make a mark and a dollar".
Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden, he says, are "perfect fits" u2013 "great cricketers unable or unwilling to spend days in the field or bowling spells but still magnificent strikers of the ball, shrewd bowlers and proud competitors. Of course these players became legends in Test cricketers, and followed the well-trodden path."
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