Test previews / Andrew Hughes / 09 October 2008 /

Andrew Hughes talks attendances in India where the crowds shy away from the five-day game - even when Australia come to play.

From an English perspective the suggestion that Test cricket is on its last legs appears to be apocalyptic nonsense. Despite the ordinary performances of the national team this summer, the grounds have been full, as they invariably are for Tests. And when Edgbaston put tickets on sale for next year's Ashes, they sold out in three days.

They may not have the mega bucks of the BCCI, but thanks to the enduring popularity of Test cricket in England, the ECB are doing very well financially.

But England, and to an extent Australia, are the exceptions. Every other cricket nation in the world has been suffering dwindling Test audiences for many years.

And surprisingly, India, the country that has taken cricket to its heart more than any other, has experienced the same phenomenon. Even in especially cricket-mad cities like Ahmedabad and Kolkata, Test matches are these days played to the ringing echoes of empty stands. By contrast, limited overs internationals are usually sell outs.

So how did this come to pass? To find the cause, you have to go back just over a quarter of a century to the 1983 World Cup.

Up until that point, India had remained remarkably resistant to the charms of one-day cricket. It was regarded as unwelcome upstart. Indeed, India didn't play their first home limited overs international until 1981. Reliant on radio coverage and newspapers and with few competing leisure activities, Test cricket was the main outlet for sporting excitement. English journalists waxed lyrical on the 1981/82 tour about how enthusiastically attended the Test matches were in India.

But at Lord's on the evening of the 25th June 1983, Mohinder Amarnath sent Indians into raptures of delight when he trapped Michael Holding leg before wicket. India had won the World Cup and everything changed.

Often stereotyped as sensible, conservative and unchanging, the Indian character is far more volatile, given to sudden enthusiasms or 'hujaks'. Just as their unexpected win in England in 1971 had boosted Test cricket, so now that they were World Champions in a new and exciting format, the clamour was all for limited overs cricket.

Later that same year Pakistan's tour included three one-day games, played to packed houses. Yet the Tests that followed were greeted with indifference. Almost overnight, the passion for cricket had been diverted into the shorter game.

Other factors have accelerated the decline in Test cricket. India's burgeoning economy has changed the pace of life in the cities, leaving less leisure time. One-day cricket, and now Twenty20 is far better suited to the modern pace of life.

And Indian cricket watchers like to be entertained as much as the rest of us. When there was only Test cricket, they had no choice. But now there is a multiplicity of options why should they spend all day at the Test? If the games get interesting or if India have a chance of winning, they can always go along. Otherwise, they can watch it on television, in between Premier League football, baseball and any one of dozens of other sporting entertainments.

For the time being, Test cricket remains popular with the players. There is, after all, no real difference between the international formats in terms of financial remuneration. And there is still a genuine sense that the historic associations of the longer game, the chance to measure yourself against the best, holds an appeal that cannot be replicated in the shorter game.

And if anything is going to get the Indian spectators through the turnstiles for a five Test match, it is the prospect of another confrontation with Australia. Anticipation has reached something like fever pitch, not least because this time India are favourites to win the series and with some justification. They have been shortening in price steadily over the past week and are now as low as [2.28] to win the series. The Aussies, with their new look bowling attack are as high as [2.86] with the draw at [3.95].

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