"Question Marks Were Against Pakistan...": Pat Cummins Breaks Silence After Steve Waugh's "Death Of Test Cricket" Charge

02.01.2024 - 13:16 sports.ndtv.com

Australia captain Pat Cummins acknowledged that he occasionally worries about the future of the five-day game but he believes the sport isn't as badly declining as people think.

Over the past ten years, the red-ball format has suffered a decline in interest at stadiums and viewership due to the T20s' increasing global appeal.

Yet, Perth and Melbourne's packed crowds have witnessed Australia's current series against Pakistan. Sydney will host the third Test from January 3 to 7.

Australia are presently ranked third in the ICC World Test Championship rankings and holds an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

Australia Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Test Cummins David Warner Pat Cummins Steve Waugh Australia Pakistan

West Indies cricket team all-rounder Jason Holder expressed his concern regarding the future of Test cricket and said that the current financial model can end up damaging the longest format of the sport. Holder, who is currently part of Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 league, said that the 'big three' controls all the revenue and it is difficult for 'smaller territories' like the West Indies to compete due to the massive financial disparity. The West Indies cricketer added that one way to save Test cricket is to create a specific window for the matches and also introduce an uniform 'minimum wage' for all cricketers.

Pat Cummins, Deepti Sharma Win ICC Player Of The Month Awards For December

Australia skipper Pat Cummins wins ICC Men's Player of the Month award for bowling heroics in the Test triumph against Pakistan. Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma of India won the maiden ICC Women's Player of the Month award thanks to her multi-format brilliance against England and Australia, according to a release from the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday. ICC revealed the Men's and Women's Player of the Month award winners for December 2023 after shortlists were announced last week.

"WTC Has Made It Worse For Test Cricket": Ex-England Star's Sensational Claim

Former England Test batter Mark Butcher feels the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) has done more harm than good to the longest format. South Africa recently named a depleted squad for the Test series in New Zealand with their top cricketers contracted to play in the second season of the SA20 as the dates of the two events are clashing. "One of the things that's made this even more inevitable is something that they've done to try to salvage Test match cricket, which is the World Test Championship," Butcher said on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast.

"Going To Be Hard": Pat Cummins On Finding A Replacement For David Warner

Australia skipper Pat Cummins has stated that replacing David Warner in Test cricket will be difficult and will necessitate some work, given the importance the veteran opener gave to the squad. Australia's star opener Warner's sparkling Test career came to a conclusion on Saturday at his home stadium with an eight-wicket triumph against Pakistan, capping off a 3-0 series whitewash. Warner hit 57 off 75 balls until his fairy-tale last innings came to an end just after midday on day four, leaving Australia 11 runs short of victory.

Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja To Vie For Sobers Trophy; Ravichandran Ashwin In Race For ICC Test Cricketer Of Year

Star batter Virat Kohli and premier all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will vie for the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year award, while ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be in the race for the Test Cricketer of the Year. Kohli and Jadeja will have to contest for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy against Australian captain Pat Cummins and his team-mate Travis Head. Ashwin will face competition from Head and his Australia teammate Usman Khawaja along with England senior batsman Joe Root, the ICC said on Friday.