Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 22 November 2009 /

After the stalemate in Ahmedabad, Andrew Hughes examines whether such five day snoozefests are damaging Test cricket and asks what can be done to prevent them.

Eight overs into the First Test in Ahmedabad, the home side were reduced to 32-4 as left-armer Chanaka Welegedara wreaked havoc. But Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni repaired the damage and from then on, the bowlers of both India and Sri Lanka toiled endlessly, with little reward. Trailing by 334 on first innings, the Indians were never really troubled as they sauntered sedately towards the draw that had been looming since day two and when the dust settled on a monotonous five days, the scorecard featured seven centurions. Little wonder that only a handful of tickets have been sold for the Second Test in Kanpur. Little wonder too that the draw for that game is the [2.3] favourite in the match odds market.

Test match aficionados know that the closely fought draw can be as thrilling as a victory. Old Trafford in 2005 and Cardiff in 2009 are two memorable examples of the nail-biting stalemate. For purists, the pleasure of Test cricket is that you can't be sure what you're going to get. You have to sit through a few Ahmedabads in order to fully appreciate the Cardiffs. But Test match cricket is under siege at the moment, from players, administrators and franchise owners who would happily see it sink into the depths of history. Pitches like roads on which batsmen pile up risk free runs in front of empty stadiums with only one result likely, do nothing to ease the worries of those of us who fear for the future of the five-day game.

Fortunately, the stats show that we need not be too alarmed. Test match draws, of all varieties, are far less common than they used to be. During the 1960s, just under half of all Test matches played around the world finished in draws. The figures remained high until the late 1980s. But the incidence of drawn games has been falling for the last twenty years and since 2000, stands at 24.78%. Tests played in India have followed the same trend. During the 1960s an astonishing 61% of Indian Tests were drawn. During the last two decades, the figure is a more acceptable 35%.

What's more, a recent survey by the MCC revealed that flat pitches were not discouraging people from attending Test matches in places like India and South Africa. The survey found that lack of time, cost of tickets and a preference for watching the game on television were the primary reasons why spectators didn't turn up to watch Test matches live. That's why the ICC are considering such innovations as day-night tests, session-by-session pricing and a Test Championship - another measure that the survey found would go down well with stay away fans.

Still, it is worth asking why bore draws like those at Ahmedabad happen. Is it down to cautious batting? That was the reason for the high number of draws in the 1960s, but modern Test cricketers are used to scoring rapidly in shorter forms of the game. So is it just the unalterable state of the pitches? That too, is unlikely; given that this same venue in 2008 produced a three day Test. No, these modern stalemates are down to off the field influences, specifically, the current ICC pitch regulations and the financial interests of cricket boards.

Groundsmen can produce sporting wickets, if they are allowed to. But we all know that is not always how it works. Pressure on the curator comes from two directions. From the ICC, there are the lopsided pitch regulations that punish bowling-friendly wickets more severely than flat featherbeds. And from the cricket boards, there is the pressure to ensure that a Test match runs its course. In India, this is because the BCCI's television deal is based around the number of days of cricket that take place. The ICC can do little to influence television deals, but they could and should alter their regulations, to punish venues like Ahmedabad for producing pitches that do not deteriorate. This might help to reduce the likelihood of bore-draws, and in so doing, help promote Test cricket as a spectator sport, without altering its nature.

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