The notion of Ashes rotation highlights that Test cricket has reached a crisis point

HUW TURBERVILL: England could have handled winter selection better but with the IPL an increasingly dominant force the ICC need to step in to ensure the longest format is not pushed further into the shadows

Wishing Ian Watmore - a genuine cricket man - well

Joey Benjamin: One of a kind, who proved the doubters wrong

How much more indignity does Test cricket have to suffer?

Players and fans queue up to say it’s the ultimate form of the game, and yet there are some unforgivable liberties being taken at the moment.

Yes, we know players’ mental and physical health comes first. 

And life in the bubble is suffocating (although performing well can help).

Players like Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler can’t possibly play all the cricket their teams would like them to in 2021 (yes I know you are not going to make my tour to Suffolk at the end of July this year gents)… and they need a work/life balance that allows them to see their families.

But surely Buttler (and a few others) could have missed the Test series in Sri Lanka and this year’s ODIs, and still played in the (blue-riband) Test rubber in India? 

Likewise, a first XI should be picked for this summer’s seven Tests and then the Ashes in Australia.

There will certainly be no resting and rotating for the T20s leading to the World Cup unless Eoin Morgan is trying to identify his best XI.

If Buttler is England’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper, he should play in the big series (some would say he should play in all the Tests actually).

Arguably England didn’t lose much by replacing him with Ben Foakes for the second, third and fourth Tests in India. 

His keeping had Adam Gilchrist, for one, purring. That’s not the point.

Geez, how brilliant is Ben Foakes #INDvENG

— Adam Gilchrist (@gilly381) February 15, 2021

What were England doing with Jonny Bairstow? 

Over to the legend who is Ian Chappell. He told ESPNcricinfo: "After acclimatising in Sri Lanka with a reasonably successful series, Bairstow was sent home to rest, where he endured the rain and snow for a month. He was then expected to reappear in the heat of India and be a saviour at No.3. Is it any wonder he finished the series with more ducks than an English aristocrat in hunting season?"

Meanwhile, England coach Chris Silverwood has insisted that Test players might be rested and rotated midway through the Ashes. Good luck with that one. There would be a riot. Absolute sacrilege – pandemic or no pandemic.

To be fair there is little that they could have done about Moeen Ali leaving the India trip.

He is not on a Test contract, which is worth about £700,000 a year. He is now making – funnily enough – that exact same sum in this year’s Indian Premier League – with Chennai Super Kings (by the way it’s a bit galling seeing him bringing out the drinks in this T20 series, isn’t it?).

It’s not just England players and fans who are unhappy about it all, either.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s commitments with Sunrisers Hyderabad mean he may miss the first Test against England at Lord’s, starting on June 2.

Yes, you read that right. A Lord’s Test!

^{Ian Chappell was baffled by England's use of Jonny Bairstow}

And it’s not just him. What could be a delicious-looking Test rubber is in serious danger of being devalued. Already with no crowd at HQ, it could be that Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Lockie Ferguson, Jofra Archer, Stokes, Buttler, Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Ali will also be unavailable.

With the IPL final on May 30, at least they may be back for the second Test at Edgbaston on June 10-14. 

Be grateful for small mercies!

Buttler said that the selectors/England management didn’t even ask them to forsake the final 10 days of the tournament.

Well, if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

A certain Piers Morgan writes in the next, centenary edition of The Cricketer: "Your last magazine (March) focusing on Test cricket was a good issue. The Cricketer has a very powerful and important voice. It would be an absolute tragedy if Test cricket were to decline. It’s incumbent on this magazine and committees at places like the MCC, other cricket boards around the world, to make the right calls."

We’ll do our best.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the way contracts are decided could be reviewed.

The last set handed out last autumn was a curate’s egg. Of those that had Test and white-ball deals – Archer, Buttler, Joe Root, Stokes, Woakes – Root is not in the T20 team at the moment, and Woakes did not play in any of the six Tests this winter.

Curran has a Test-only deal, but his future in white-ball international cricket looks more assured.

Ali and Bairstow are on white-ball only deals, but England wanted them to play all the Tests in India.

A series that started in such brilliant fashion with a stunning England win descended into farce – and that’s not sour grapes because India won 3-1.

The first Test was a cause for celebration. The return to Channel 4 had everyone talking. England’s win was unexpected and set the series up beautifully.

Alas, the remaining three Tests were one-sided, and, if we’re honest, not the greatest advert for Test cricket.

I admit I became rather carried away during the third when wickets were tumbling: as epitomised by one of the strangest Test knocks seen, Bairstow’s, in the first innings.

Later that day a sense of perspective was regained.

^{The pull of the IPL only appears to be growing}

It left the Test format feeling sullied.

Rather like a McDonald's lunch, it was tasty at the time but left you feeling hungry soon after. Let’s hope two-day Tests do not give chief executives ideas.

The myopic commentary had started to grate by the end, and Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain were missed.

The ICC need to get a grip... but don’t hold your breath. True, we cannot fight the IPL and its financial muscle.

That’s why it’s time for a maximum of 12 Tests to be played per year.

They need to be the pinnacle, the best. They need to be cherished.

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