Sweden’s Armand Duplantis dominates the Oslo Diamond League
England’s dramatic win over New Zealand proves that test cricket can still stick to shorter formats
Rumors of Test cricket’s death abound, but it is alive and well after the exciting match between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, which ended in a fantastic way on Tuesday. Under a new coach and captain, the first a former captain for New Zealand and the second born there, England’s approach has become fearless, adventurous and positive, even bordering on ruthless. It really felt like that sometimes during the five days, that I could all see live in person.
This new, positive approach was taken up by the administrators who opened up the last fifth day’s game to spectators for free. This led to what appeared to be an almost full house consisting of a very mixed, excited, appreciative audience in hopes of drama. They got it in abundance. After New Zealand and England reached parity in their first innings in the first three days, making 1100 runs between them – something few would have predicted – New Zealand closed the second innings to leave England to make 299 for victory in the the remaining 72 overs of the match.
At tea on the last day, the equation had been reduced to 160 at 38 overs, the result seemed to be in balance. New Zealand was just a wicket away from eroding England’s batting, which needed to score four runs per over, a pace not uncommon in Test cricket. What followed was an extraordinary display of kind where England plummeted to victory in just another 16 overs. The irony is that a man who had recently returned from playing in the Indian Premier League led the way and who seemed to have a hard time adapting to the test cricket. In fact, Jonny Bairstow turned the final session of a Test match into a limited overrun, breaking a nearly 120-year-old record for the fastest century made by an Englishman in Test cricket.
This was a day when the long and short formats of the game seemed to slip away. I get the question why it is so that the attitude to the short game is not transferred to the test cricket by players and coaches. The answer is complex. Some players are skilled at both, others specialize. The balls used are different, with those used in the test cricket offering oscillations in the air and movement off the field, given favorable conditions. There are no limits on where fielders can be placed or limits on the number of overs per bowler. All of this examines the technique of both hits and bowlers in much more detail and their propensity to take risks. Some coaches and captains will create an environment that encourages this and removes the fear of failure, others are not so prone.
At Nottingham, risks were taken on and off the pitch. The English team took theirs and won; Nottinghamshire Cricket Club took theirs and opened the doors for free, received promotional benefits and gathered a multifaceted crowd, many of whom would be more familiar with the shorter format. They will now have long-lasting memories of a famous test match.
Another irony with this match is that it coincided with the e-auction of the media rights for the next cycle of IPL. As reported in previous columns, the IPL attracted around $ 2.5 billion for the current cycle between 2017 and 2022, with Disney-owned Star India acquiring Sony Pictures for the price of a composite TV and digital rights deal. In the next cycle between 2023 and 2027, television and digital rights were separated into four packages.
Bundle A, Broadcast, and Bundle B, Digital, were for the Indian subcontinent to cover 74 matches. In package A, the auction resulted in Disney Star retaining television rights for approximately $ 3 billion, which exceeded the base price by 30 percent. In package B, the base price was exceeded by 68 percent, as Viacom18 secured the rights for $ 2.62 million.
The same bidder, a joint venture between TV18 and Paramount Global, based in Mumbai, also secured the non-exclusive Indian market digital bundle C, which includes 18 top games, for $ 417 million. In addition, it will share Bundle D, which has both TV and digital rights, with Times Internet. Viacom will cover Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa, while the Times will cover the Middle East and North Africa and the United States. Together, these bids were worth $ 135.5 million.
The overall result of the auction is that in the next cycle, the Board of Control for Cricket in India will receive a staggering sum of approximately $ 6.2 billion, more than twice as much as was generated in the previous cycle. The amount to be received for each match from TV and digital has increased from $ 8.47 million to $ 15.11 million. This compares with $ 17 million for each National Football League match and $ 11 million for English Premier League matches. In 15 years, IPL has become the second richest sports league in the world. It is also set to increase the number of matches during the next cycle and, with that, the duration of the tournament.
This has consequences for cricket around the world, especially for test cricket. The Pakistan Cricket Board has already expressed concern. What BCCI will do with its growing wealth is not clear. It claims to be involved in international cricket, without specifying what format and how it will contribute. Will it keep the money for Indian cricket or spread it?
India has the depth of talent to be able to set up high quality teams in different formats at the same time. Other countries may not want to take that risk, although next week England will field a completely separate team in an international series of three matches against the Netherlands at the same time as the third test against New Zealand. The real question is how to fit in all the different teams and formats in 365 days. What is obvious from this week in Nottingham is that the test cricket is not yet ready to do without a fight.