One of the oldest formats of cricket and considered as the pinnacle of this sport, Test cricket, and its rapidly declining nature is a topic to discuss nowadays. The decline in the importance of test cricket is an ongoing debate among cricket enthusiasts and experts. Not just among the fans and experts, some of the active cricketers don’t prioritize test cricket nowadays. In this regard, West Indian T20 star all-rounder Andre Russell talked about how players nowadays are not interested in playing test cricket. He also said it’s not just about money, but wanting to play on a big stage.
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Today, we will see what Andre Russell has to say on this and why players prioritize league cricket over Test cricket. So let’s dive into it quickly.
Why the importance of test cricket is declining ?
After the emergence of franchise cricket, a lot of players are not prioritizing test cricket. The advent of T20 cricket has revolutionized the sport. With easy money and lucrative offers, some players prefer to play franchise cricket over international cricket sometimes.
Also, test cricket needs more effort and fitness levels as it is the longest format of the game, played over 5 days. Some players’ bodies can’t take the toll of test cricket, and with T20 cricket is there, players choose to manage their workload by not playing test cricket.
Not just from the players’ point of view, but from the fans’ point of view as well, test cricket is not getting much importance. The spectators want to see a fast-paced game with a lot of fours and sixes and entertainment. The same goes for the broadcasting and sponsorship point of view. The revenue that T20 cricket generates is much more than Test cricket.
These are just a few points that show how badly the test format is declining.
Andre Russell on players not interested in playing test cricket
As we discussed above, test cricket keeps declining with spectators not watching games on TV and in the stadium. West Indian star all-rounder Andre Russell has something similar to say. In an interview with the Press Association, he talked about the declining interest of the players in playing test cricket. He feels that many professional players don’t want to play test cricket anymore.
Andre Russell also talks about the young players don’t want to play tests due to the rise of franchise/league cricket.
“It’s not about money or anything like that” – Andre Russell
While addressing a never-ending debate of players choosing money in franchise cricket over national duty, Andre Russell doesn’t think like this. He thinks it’s not about money. It’s just that players are not interested in playing test cricket.
“I don’t think it is about money anymore. I think a lot of players are not interested in playing Tests.” – Andre Russell told the Press Association in a recent interview.
He also thinks if there is a better opportunity outside the central contract, players will grab the opportunity. “As long as you can do well from contracts outside the central contracts of your country, I think players are going to grab the opportunities.” – Russell added.
Players want big stage to play – Russell
While addressing the money factor further, Andre Russell said players wanted to play on a big stage. If there is a big stage in test cricket, players will be happy to play.
“All of them want to play on the big stage, and if that comes in Test cricket, I know youngsters will be happy to play. I don’t think it is about money.” – he concluded.
Russell himself has differences with the National Cricket board
We have seen over the years that many of the big WI star players prefer playing franchise cricket over internationals. Andre Russell himself is one of those players who didn’t feature for WI but plays different league during that period.
So many West Indian players have clashed with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over the years. With less money and boundation to be available for international games, WI players prefer franchise cricket over national duties.
WICB tried quite a few times to gather all the star players and form a good team, and they have brought in a few players together during an ICC event, but still, the players won’t look at this as their priority. Despite the West Indies board’s best efforts, the cricket players continue to play as freelancers in different T20 leagues around the world.
There was an incident in 2014 when DJ Bravo-led WI team came back midway from the series against India. It happened because the players didn’t receive their promised payment from the board. These things are not helping WI cricket and they are far behind the other big teams in world cricket currently.
Conclusion
So this is what Andre Russell has to say on test cricket and its declining importance. Even nowadays, the relevance of ODI cricket is only limited to the ODI World Cups. The ICC (International Cricket Council) has introduced the World Test Championship (WTC) to bring excitement and context to the longer format, but still, the fans don’t want to watch it and prefer T20 cricket.
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FAQs:-
(1) How many Tests Andre Russell has played for West Indies?
He only played one test for WI and scored 2 runs in one inning. With the ball, he only managed to pick one wicket in two innings in that game. He played that test against Sri Lanka on November 15, 2010 at Galle.
(2) Are West Indies still in the race to play the ICC WTC 2025 final?
No. Unfortunately, WI will not be able to play in the final of ICC WTC 2025 even if they win all of their remaining tests in this cycle.
(3) How many runs Andre Russell has scored for WI in T20Is?
Russell has played 82 T20Is and scored 1033 runs with an average of 21.98 and with a strike rate of 163.71.
