A congested calendar, T20 money, and the Big Three are harming Test cricket, with Holder suggesting football-style windows of red-ball internationals as a possible solution
West Indies international Jason Holder has issued a bleak prediction for the future of Test cricket, believing the format will "die" without changes to the current structure.
Test cricket is currently struggling against a congested calendar and the money on offer in T20 franchise leagues, both of which are making it increasingly difficult for teams to field a full-strength XI.
South Africa, for example, have selected eight uncapped players in their 15-strong squad to face New Zealand in February due to the series clashing with the second season of the SA20. 27-year-old Neil Brand will lead the side on his Test debut.
Holder, meanwhile, who captained West Indies in 37 Tests between 2015 and 2020, is one of a number of notable absentees from the ongoing red-ball series against Australia. He is currently playing in the ILT20 with one eye on June's T20 World Cup.
Holder doesn't believe West Indies can compete with the Big Three [Paul Kane/Getty Images]
International cricket, particularly at Test level, is also dominated by the Big Three: Australia, India and England.
In the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle, for example, England are scheduled to play 22 Tests while Australia and India will play 19 apiece. No other team will play more than 14 Tests or contest a series longer than three matches.
Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Holder said: "If we continue in this manner, Test cricket will die. It's sad, but it's true, based on the current structure.
"You've got the Big Three who practically command all the revenue regarding the disbursement of ICC funds. And it's difficult for smaller territories such as the West Indies to compete.
"We just don't have the financial resources that they do. We're struggling to even stay afloat in terms of cash flow.
"And it's hard to develop our facilities and structures the way they're meant to be. And with the little finances that we have, pretty much all the money we get goes straight back up into covering expenses and debt."
South Africa are sending an inexperienced squad to New Zealand due to a clash with the SA20 [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]
His proposed solution is to have football-style international windows to ensure teams have their best players available for Test series, as well as improved salaries.
"The only way you can honestly see Test cricket being saved is if you have a window for Test cricket in a year so that you can have your best players available to play there. And on top of that, you need to compensate players fairly," he continued.
"It can't be a situation where Australia and India are up there, and all the other teams are way, way down below. So, when you've got a situation – a dilemma – similar to mine, where you can play a Test series for x amount and a franchise for three times the amount, you will constantly have players going toward more money.
"If we could come up with a model where you can have a minimum wage where you can't fall below a particular threshold, it would actually incentivise players to say, 'Well, look, this is the benefit of me playing Test cricket'.
"I think, maybe, cricket may go in the football model where you have an international window, and you've got the franchise window. Maybe that might be a model going forward, but who knows?"
Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on everything England - including leading coverage of England in India, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.
Posted by david Lancaster on 22/01/2024 at 14:02
simple, don't pick money grabbing t-20 players for the test team, it happens with england rugby, play abroad you can't play for england, india proved their priorities when they cut short their test series of england under the ruse of covid, turned out the ipl was just starting, i personally would refuse to play against them until they came back into the fold and remember not all indians can play for the ipl so some good indian players are going to miss out on a test career
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.