Not one ticket has yet been sold to a Test match in Australia this summer. In fact, no dates have been announced — except the two that need no announcement, Boxing Day in Melbourne and the New Year match in Sydney — and no one has really noticed.

All that is known is that New Zealand will be here for three Tests in November, the shoulder season, and the West Indies for three in December and January, prime time. A month ago, that felt like the wrong way around. Now, it feels like a snub to the Kiwis and the incorporation of a month-long bye at the height of the cricket season.

Whether Australia was exceptionally good or the Windies lamentably poor in their two just completed Tests doesn't matter. It is impossible to think that their contests will be any closer here. It would be nice to believe that the West Indies could guarantee the presence of, for instance, the ever reluctant Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, but they cannot. The Windies can't even necessarily guarantee to stay for the duration. Eight months ago, they walked out of a tour of India.

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In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Every dog has its day and puss its 4 o' clock!!

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

WTF?

In reply to eXodus



That’s how you pay off 42 million incompetent fees

interesting description...test cricket is a dinosaur creaking and clanking its way to its own oblivion.

does anyone seriously expect our guys to put on a better show down under?

Test status will soon be lost?

It is not as bad as it appears, apart from the top four Test Teams, WI could be competitive, as the England series showed.

This is what Windies cricket has come to:

Welcome to American capitalism!!!

If something is not working, drop it or reinvent it rass. Don't wait for it to bankrupt yuh rass.

I have been telling y'all test cricket is dead

In reply to black

You mean WI test cricket.

You will see real action in the coming Ashes series....where it will be clear to all...test cricket is alive and kicking

If India and Pakistan could play at home....again you would have seen test cricket alive and licking

TEST cricketers make test cricket...the cricketing world has lost some of the greatest players in the last 10 years...we can't expect them to be replaced overnight

In reply to Narper

That is a symptom in itself

Did the NBA stop producing stars after MJ's departure?

Sometimes the evidence is staring us in the face and yet we cannot see it

IPL, CPL, BBL etc...

Chris Gayle goes to England and draws as much interest as a test match



Better is not always the most desirable. If that was the case, McDonalds would be out of business

In reply to black

I am not speculating...I am stating a fact

NBA stars?????

Look what the cricket world has lost

Hayden
Langer
McGrath
Warne
Ponting
Gilchrist
sYMONDS

Lara
Sarwan

Sehwag
VVS Laxman
Ganguly
Dravid
TenD
Kumble

Pietersen
Swann
Flintoff
Vaughan
Hussain

Jayasurya
Murali
Vaas

Pollock
Ntini
Smith
Kallis

Inzaman
Yusuf

Vettori

Gawn this year...Dhoni, Shiv, Jayawardene, Gayle, Sangakarra


Who are the world staRs in today's test cricket...ONLY A HANDFUL OF PLAYERS

In reply to Narper

I think you answered your own question

Look, players cannot play forever. Who were the stars before the names mentioned above? Didn't they replace the stars before them? What is different now?

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com
The people in charge of test cricket need to take a leaf out of baseball's book. They need to spice up the game. They need to get cricket fans more involved. They need to give them more incentive to attend these matches.
In baseball they have oldtimers days, fan appreciation days and lots of other goodies that make going to a baseball game fun. If it wasn't for these things, baseball would be as boring as cricket.
We need to make a day at the cricket ground a fun-filled festive occasion that involves the whole family. Give little gifts to young kids to get them to urge their parents to take them to the ball game. You would be surprised how things like t-shirts, caps, cards, even little things like raffles based on your ticket, could spike the enthusiasm of these fans, especially the children. Yes, the children. They are the ones who will keep the game alive in the future.
Test cricket is dying because it is being run on the cheap. And until the people in charge wake up and start making it more interesting to fans, it will continue to die a slow death until it is no more!