Former England cricketer Mark Butcher has called on the ICC to intervene and protect Test cricket outside the dominant trio of India, England, and Australia.
Mark Butcher's huge appeal to ICC to save Test cricket
While these three nations consistently engage in high-quality Test matches, the rest of the Test-playing world struggles to maintain a regular fixture list. Butcher is also concerned about the decline of Test cricket in the West Indies, where a growing emphasis on T20 leagues is diverting talent away from the longer format. This trend was highlighted by the West Indies' recent heavy defeat to England in the first Test, where they were bowled out twice in three days. Butcher believes that unless the ICC takes action to bolster Test cricket outside the "Big Three," the format could face a serious decline in popularity and relevance.
Mark Butcher has stressed the significance of warm-up matches for touring teams and suggested that cricket boards with greater financial resources should cover the costs. He pointed to England's decision to skip warm-up games in India earlier this year as a potential contributing factor to their subsequent 4-1 series defeat.
"One warm-up match – regardless of whether or not you've been playing or whether you haven't been playing any red-ball cricket, even if you come into it off the back of a West Indies first-class summer – one touring match in English conditions is just simply not enough. Let alone the fact that you've got batters making debuts, guys who haven't played a lot of first-class cricket, let alone Test cricket," said Butcher on Wisden Weekly Cricket Podcast.
Butcher proposed a revenue-sharing model among cricket powerhouses like India, England, and Australia to fund warm-up matches for touring teams. He argued that given the significant costs incurred by host nations in hosting Test matches, the arrangement of warm-up games could help level the playing field.
“At least the ones who don't have the finances, and that is simply because of the cost. He said that, back in the old days, I can't remember how long ago this was now but back when I started playing Test matches, there was a revenue-sharing agreement in terms of television money whereby the touring team would pick up a percentage of what was made throughout the course of the series. That would either cover the cost or give them [the touring side] a bit of a buffer once their costs were paid for,” Butcher stated.
"But now, nothing goes to the touring team. So the cost borne by flying your team over, putting them up for however long it might be – it might be a month, it might three weeks – is all borne by the home board.
"We know that times are tough everywhere but England, India and Australia. So there are reasons behind it and I hope it didn't come across that I mean the players don't want to come away on tour anymore, there might be a bit of that I don't know, but more likely it's that the boards simply cannot afford for their side to be away for six to eight weeks and be ready to be much more competitive," Butcher said further.
Butcher emphasised the need for Test cricket to be more entertaining to attract fans. He argued that increasing competitiveness is crucial for the format's survival and that solutions must be found to achieve this.
"There needs to be an agreement – and it's for the good of the game as a whole – the more competitive it is the more watchable the game becomes, as it's always been. It's always incumbent on the people who have more to give a leg up to the people who have less," Butcher further added.
"You cannot have a situation where you end up being the only show in town. You need people to play against and in order to have people to play against they need to be able to keep their heads above water. Sometimes that means they need a bit of help from someone else," the 51-year-old signed off.
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