Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has called for a fairer international cricket calendar that gives Sri Lanka and other nations more opportunities to play Test cricket, while acknowledging that the financial realities of the format remain a major challenge.
Sangakkara said concerns over the future of Test cricket extend well beyond Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and have been repeatedly discussed at International Cricket Council forums and within the wider global cricket community.
“It’s a question that is troubling all of world cricket, not just SLC,” Sangakkara said.
He noted that while the World Test Championship was introduced to give greater context to the format, the current Future Tours Programme (FTP) does not ensure that countries play an equal or minimum number of Test matches.
Sangakkara said there had previously been discussions about establishing a minimum of three Tests per series instead of two, but some countries now play only one-off Tests.
“The bottom line is, in the current context of world cricket, except for the top three or four countries, the revenue generated by Test cricket is very low,” he said.
He warned that staging Test cricket could even become financially unsustainable for some boards, pointing to countries such as Afghanistan and Ireland, which have Test status but play only a limited number of matches each year.
Sangakkara also raised concerns about the ability of specialist Test players to build sustainable careers if they receive too few opportunities and do not play other formats.
He said cricket administrators must examine how revenue from other formats could help support Test cricket while also improving the way the longest format is promoted.
Sangakkara stressed the importance of marketing Test series well in advance and building the profiles of leading Test cricketers, arguing that outstanding Test performers should be celebrated as much as stars in T20 and ODI cricket.
“We have to build stories around them,” he said, adding that Test players should be held up “even higher than a T20 star performer” when their performances warrant it.
Sangakkara also highlighted inequalities in the international calendar, noting that England and Australia maintain their traditional touring cycles while India tours other countries more frequently because of the significant commercial value generated by those series.
He said tours by commercially powerful teams could be crucial to the financial sustainability of cricket boards.
While admitting there was no simple solution, Sangakkara said action was required at national, regional and international levels to ensure countries receive sufficient Test cricket.
He said Sri Lanka should seek to influence future FTP arrangements and negotiate with other cricket boards for more Test matches.
“If we can influence the FTP to be a lot fairer, negotiate with countries for us to play a lot more Test cricket, I think Sri Lanka cricket will get stronger,” Sangakkara said.
He added that Sri Lanka must remain a strong Test side if it wants to succeed consistently across the ODI and T20 formats. (Newswire)