England Test captain Ben Stokes has hit out on the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not paying sufficient consideration to scheduling, including that the rising reputation of home T20 leagues internationally is threatening the existence of the longest format of the sport. Stokes, who led his aspect to a 3-0 Test clean-sweep of Pakistan just lately, added that the way in which Test cricket was being dealt with and spoken about nowadays, particularly within the backdrop of the rising reputation of league cricket, was hurting him. “The scheduling doesn’t get enough attention that it should. A great example is England’s one-day series against Australia after the T20 World Cup. That was shoving three games in there. It made sense to someone to schedule a series which meant nothing,” mentioned Stokes in an interplay with the legendary Ian Botham on BBC on Monday.
“Test cricket has been spoken about in a way I don’t like. It is losing the attention of the fans with all the new formats and franchise competitions. We understand there are so many opportunities for players away from Test cricket. But for me it is so important for the game,” added Stokes.
Hinting that Test-playing nations ought to comply with England’s footsteps of enjoying ultra-attacking cricket, Stoke mentioned “entertainment”, greater than “result”, will go a good distance in popularise the five-day format.
“Taking the result away from the mindset is a great starting point. Putting focus on making every day entertaining. Not allowing people to know what is going to happen. If people turn up excited about what they are going to watch you’ve already won before a ball has been bowled,” mentioned Stokes.
He urged the ICC to do “something different” to popularise Test cricket.
“I love playing Test cricket and felt we could do something different,” added Stokes, who has guided England to 9 Test wins in 10 video games after taking up captaincy from Joe Root.
The 31-year-old all-rounder can also be not proud of loads of completely different squads being chosen and gamers being rested due to the abundance of cricket being performed and the dedication of cricketers to their franchises.
“Some people say ‘you are playing for England, that should be enough’. But there is a lot more to factor in. You want international cricket to be the highest standard. But we have seen a lot of different squads being picked and players being rested, and that’s not the way international cricket should go,” opined Stokes.
Botham, whereas agreeing that franchise cricket was a good suggestion, referred to as for a stability between home leagues and the longest format of the sport.
“Test match cricket is called that for a very good reason, because it tests all the faculties of a player. The emphasis is too much towards white ball. In England we currently have a few first-class games in early April and it disappears until end of season. It should be balanced better. You have to make room for it all,” mentioned Botham.
“The idea of franchises is a solid, good idea. I just hope we can maintain a balance. And if franchises can maintain that balance then let’s have a look at it.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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