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Strauss fears for Test cricket

ESPN staff
October 18, 2011
Andrew Strass: 'If we assume Test cricket will always be there, we are sowing the seeds of our downfall' © Getty Images
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England captain Andrew Strauss is worried that Test cricket will cease to exist if administrators continue to favour shorter matches that generate large sums.

Strauss, who has led England to No. 1 in the Test rankings, cites falling attendances across the globe and the reported postponement of the World Test Championship, a four-team tournament initially scheduled for 2013 but now set to take place four years later.

The demands of television mean that a Champions Trophy 50-over tournament is expected to take its place, leaving Strauss to ponder the future of the five-day format.

"I have concerns about the state of Test cricket," Strauss said in the Times. "I am very much aware that if we are arrogant and assume Test cricket will always be there, we are sowing the seeds of our downfall.

"Even in traditional hotbeds of the game such as South Africa, attendances are a long way below what we would expect them to be.

"The administrators are trying to recognise the primacy of Test cricket, but there is a difference between saying it and making sure your actions follow it. The ICC [International Cricket Council] should look at what is in the best interests of the game, not what is going to pay the most."

England will have had their longest wait between Tests since 1999 when they face Pakistan in Dubai during January, five months after completing a whitewash over India.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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