Cricketers retiring early from Tests to pursue franchise-based T20 leagues is a worry, but they can’t really be blamed for wanting to earn more by playing less, says Fraser Stewart, Head of Cricket at MCC, the global guardian of the Laws and Spirit of the game. Stewart welcomed the International Cricket Council’s recent decision to approve the use of pink balls in daytime Tests on a trial basis to reduce the effect of fading light in the final session of the day. He believes it could spark fresh interest in the format and liberate it from the vagaries of nature. “That’s something that ICC, and I believe in a bilateral series, say India playing Australia, it’s for them to agree amongst themselves, for a particular game, are we going to use a pink ball? Stewart responded to a PTI query.
Because they think it will mean that there can be more play because of bad weather, then it seems to make sense, “If both the teams are happy to play with a pink ball, perhaps.
“Either they think there might be bad light, that it’s going to cause a problem, or try to get more people in the ground so that they can come after work and you can get more people watching the Test match,” Stewart elaborated. Stewart was in town to launch the Kannada edition of the Laws of Cricket app of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in partnership with the Association of Cricket Umpires Karnataka (ACUK). Anything that means that there’s more play and that more people can see the game, it makes sense,” he added.
Because there is more money in franchise cricket, “We’re seeing people retire from Test cricket earlier. Because that’s what’s happening, you can’t necessarily blame a player if they can play less and earn more.
The experienced administrator underscored the sanctity of Test cricket, but also said that T20 leagues, which are now being played across the world, cannot be ignored or made the villain of the piece when talking about the future of the game. Stewart also wants to see an increase in the pace of the game by stopping batters from employing time-wasting techniques, particularly in the final hour of a Test match when the light begins to fade.
