Keiran King: The dying art of watching cricket

The world's No. 1 sport takes centre stage next week in Brazil, but No. 2 only relinquished it last week in Bangalore. The Indian Premier League ended on Sunday, and the maharajah of cricket tournaments again brought the largest stars, crowds, brands and pay cheques in the game.  A host of imitators have sprouted across the former British Empire, including our Caribbean Premier League, hoping to capitalise on the novelty appeal of three-hour fixtures. Today’s top talent, like Chris Gayle, criss-cross the globe from one domestic T20 league to the next, racking up salaries inconceivable to the stars of even a decade ago, like Brian Lara. To the casual observer, the game of cricket is doing very, very well, thanks for asking.

Lost somewhere at the back of this noisy, glitzy, profitable parade is the elderly grandfather of the game — Test cricket. The five-day original is hopelessly anachronistic in an age of television, Twitter and twenty-over matches.