Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[JSRAW]

Test format is a different form of cricket and they literally tests the patience , maturity and sensibility of any player .
Pakistan is not good in test format but they are really set in t20 format  so that's the difference.

Pakistan used to be one of the best teams in test format, during the times of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar. Nowadays there are very few test specialists around the world. Steve Smith and Joe Root are examples. But Pakistan doesn't have any of these specialists. Their players are more suited for limited overs cricket and this is one of the reasons why their performance in the longer format has gone down. When Rameez Raja was the president of the PCB, he revamped the 4-day domestic tournament. Hopefully this will bear fruit in the medium to long term.

Rambo did follow the new policy but it was the previous administrator Wasim Khan, who did the heavy lifting and laid the groundwork in 2018-19.

Despite that, I feel Rambo messed up pretty big in a red ball and because of him, their home season (3 historical tours) tanked royally.

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[Sithara007]

Rambo did follow the new policy but it was the previous administrator Wasim Khan, who did the heavy lifting and laid the groundwork in 2018-19.

Despite that, I feel Rambo messed up pretty big in a red ball and because of him, their home season (3 historical tours) tanked royally.

Well.. at least he tried. And we should acknowledge the contribution from Wasim Khan as well. Previously their 4-day competition used to be played between a mix of departmental sides (Habib Bank, WAPDA, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines.etc) and city-province based sides such as Sialkot, Karachi Blues and Rawalpindi. This If I remember it correctly, more than a dozen teams used to participate. This format was changed to a purely region-based competition, and the number of participants came down to just 6 (Balochistan, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern, Sindh and Southern Punjab).

[Juggy777]

If you look at their performance during the last 3 years, you can witness a clear pattern. They have performed well at times. Back in 2021, Sri Lanka whitewashed West Indies 2-0 in a test series that was hosted by them. But then, the next series was held in India against Indians, and the outcome was predictable. To their credit, after that they had an away victory against Bangladesh. But in terms of capability, Bangladesh is considered as one of the weaker teams. Their best win in this season came against Australia at Galle, when they defeated the visitors by an innings and 39 runs in 2022.

Bangladesh is even weaker than Afghanistan in test format. So getting a win against Bangladesh is supposed to be very easy for a team like Sri Lanka. It can be considered an achievement when Sri Lanka can win against bigger opponents like India, Pakistan, or anyone from the top four.

-Sri Lanka ranks 5th in the 2021-2023 WTC table ahead of New Zealand and Pakistan.
-They have drawn the home series against Australia, Pakistan and whitewashed the Windies 2-0
- Almost won the first test match against Kiwis.
- They are defending champion of the Asia cup.

But Sri Lanka still lost very badly against New Zealand in the test format. They still lost the first match even though it was close. Whitewashing West Indies is not a very huge thing. At least should not be a huge thing for a good team like Sri Lanka.

@Iranus while it’s easy to say that it was easy to defeat Bangladesh and West Indies, but I feel that Srilanka yet deserves credit for beating them because it’s a clear sign that they’re evolving and getting better.

@JSRAW the way they played against New Zealand it clearly felt that they could have caused an massive upset, and this shows that they’re no longer a team which we can assume will lose but now they’re a team that’s maturing and soon they’ll provide tougher competition to other team’s.

[pakhitheboss]

Bangladesh needs to face a reality check very soon. At least in test format. Otherwise, they are not going to perform better in the test format. Bangladesh seriously needs to face some serious threat from the ICC that the test status is going to be taken away. Probably after that Bangladesh will concentrate on the test format.

Test team like Bangladesh and Srilanka woul continue to play like they have been in the present without any issue. ICC won't do anything as they already have very less test playing nation. Any action against these two teams will result in the decline of viewership from the respective countries and also will not help ICC to revive this format.

I would like to see new countries getting added to the list but it seems most of them are more interested in playing the shorter format of the game as it brings more revenue to the board.

[JSRAW]

@JSRAW the way they played against New Zealand it clearly felt that they could have caused an massive upset, and this shows that they’re no longer a team which we can assume will lose but now they’re a team that’s maturing and soon they’ll provide tougher competition to other team’s.

They went into this tour as an underdog, so it was an impressive performance.

They bottled up in the next test tho but hard to give any judgment as it was 2 match series in alien/hostile conditions and it's a small sample size. It would've been great if it was 3 matches series and such a shame that not many teams play long series, mainly because it's a loss making affair.

[n0ne]

Bangladesh needs to face a reality check very soon. At least in test format. Otherwise, they are not going to perform better in the test format. Bangladesh seriously needs to face some serious threat from the ICC that the test status is going to be taken away. Probably after that Bangladesh will concentrate on the test format.

Test team like Bangladesh and Srilanka woul continue to play like they have been in the present without any issue. ICC won't do anything as they already have very less test playing nation. Any action against these two teams will result in the decline of viewership from the respective countries and also will not help ICC to revive this format.

I would like to see new countries getting added to the list but it seems most of them are more interested in playing the shorter format of the game as it brings more revenue to the board.

To have its test status continue certain criteria need to be fulfilled by the test playing nations. Few of which, the team must be an associate member for atleast 4 years. The team should have the required infrastructure, commited to the development of cricket within the nation, good domestic cricket setup, Financial ability to organise tournaments and more. In recent years no new country have shown interest towards test format cricket. Bangladesh is one among the emerging country that could've give good competence to the leading teams. Sri Lanka performance over time is diminishing as the experienced players weren't no more part of the team.

[MusaPk]

Test format is a different form of cricket and they literally tests the patience , maturity and sensibility of any player .
Pakistan is not good in test format but they are really set in t20 format  so that's the difference.

Pakistan used to be one of the best teams in test format, during the times of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar. Nowadays there are very few test specialists around the world. Steve Smith and Joe Root are examples. But Pakistan doesn't have any of these specialists. Their players are more suited for limited overs cricket and this is one of the reasons why their performance in the longer format has gone down. When Rameez Raja was the president of the PCB, he revamped the 4-day domestic tournament. Hopefully this will bear fruit in the medium to long term.

That was the time when we have only ODI and test format. Now things are changed very much, these days every player preference is to make it to PSL so that he may get selected for national team. Not many players are interested in Test format these days. Ramiz Raja was doing fine job but he was removed early before completion of his tenure because of government change in Pakistan. Current chairmen of PCB is a journalist who is nothing but a tout of current ruling party.

[Sithara007]

They went into this tour as an underdog, so it was an impressive performance.

They bottled up in the next test tho but hard to give any judgment as it was 2 match series in alien/hostile conditions and it's a small sample size. It would've been great if it was 3 matches series and such a shame that not many teams play long series, mainly because it's a loss making affair.

Well.. I am not sure... Sri Lanka still lost both their matches against New Zealand, and the second one by an innings. And remember that they lost against a very weak New Zealand side where two of the strike bowlers were missing (Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson). You may assume that the pitch conditions were very hostile. But I watched these matches live on Amazon Prime Video and at no point, I got an idea that the pitches are offering a lot of support for the pace bowlers. I would say that the only ones who got assistance from the pitch are the batsmen.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

Test format is a different form of cricket and they literally tests the patience , maturity and sensibility of any player .
Pakistan is not good in test format but they are really set in t20 format  so that's the difference.

Thats
Pakistan used to be one of the best teams in test format, during the times of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar. Nowadays there are very few test specialists around the world. Steve Smith and Joe Root are examples. But Pakistan doesn't have any of these specialists. Their players are more suited for limited overs cricket and this is one of the reasons why their performance in the longer format has gone down. When Rameez Raja was the president of the PCB, he revamped the 4-day domestic tournament. Hopefully this will bear fruit in the medium to long term.

That's definitely past as Pakistan in recent years is failing in test format and even in ODI,  they are just performing in t20 format and getting better in that .
Pakistan cricket board should seriously work on this thing to life other formats too .

[Iranus]

Bangladesh needs to face a reality check very soon. At least in test format. Otherwise, they are not going to perform better in the test format. Bangladesh seriously needs to face some serious threat from the ICC that the test status is going to be taken away. Probably after that Bangladesh will concentrate on the test format.

Test team like Bangladesh and Srilanka woul continue to play like they have been in the present without any issue. ICC won't do anything as they already have very less test playing nation. Any action against these two teams will result in the decline of viewership from the respective countries and also will not help ICC to revive this format.
I would like to see new countries getting added to the list but it seems most of them are more interested in playing the shorter format of the game as it brings more revenue to the board.

Which countries would actually get added to the test lineup? I don't think any country is worthy of that. And I personally don't think it is going to be a good idea. I will actually be very happy if ICC absolutely forgets about the test format. They should concentrate on the T20 format more because that is the future of cricket.

-snip
@Iranus while it’s easy to say that it was easy to defeat Bangladesh and West Indies, but I feel that Srilanka yet deserves credit for beating them because it’s a clear sign that they’re evolving and getting better.

I can't say they are actually getting better when they are just beating teams that are not actually really good. If Sri Lanka was able to beat New Zealand, I would have certainly said that New Zealand is improving. But right now it is hard to say.

[Sithara007]

That's definitely past as Pakistan in recent years is failing in test format and even in ODI,  they are just performing in t20 format and getting better in that .
Pakistan cricket board should seriously work on this thing to life other formats too .

Their performance in T20 format is good, because a lot of the players take part in the Pakistan Super League and other franchise T20 leagues around the world. But domestic 4-day cricket is still not as good as that in England or Australia. And this is impacting their performance in the test format. Also, till now they haven't got a quality spinner who is suitable for test format. Abrar Ahmed is showing some promise, but he is still a few years away from performing consistently at the top level. There are a few others in the reserves as well, but right now spin bowling is a big headache for Pakistan.

[pakhitheboss]

Which countries would actually get added to the test lineup? I don't think any country is worthy of that. And I personally don't think it is going to be a good idea. I will actually be very happy if ICC absolutely forgets about the test format. They should concentrate on the T20 format more because that is the future of cricket.

I actually do not know if any new country is able to play test cricket. As I said earlier most of them are into T20 & ODI. The ICC cannot just go ahead and remove test cricket. Few countries like England, Australia and New Zealand have a good fan base of test cricket. Moreover most former and current cricketers won't allow ICC to take such a decision. This iwas the primary reason why ICC started world test championship.

[mm2543363580]

Which countries would actually get added to the test lineup? I don't think any country is worthy of that. And I personally don't think it is going to be a good idea. I will actually be very happy if ICC absolutely forgets about the test format. They should concentrate on the T20 format more because that is the future of cricket.

I actually do not know if any new country is able to play test cricket. As I said earlier most of them are into T20 & ODI. The ICC cannot just go ahead and remove test cricket. Few countries like England, Australia and New Zealand have a good fan base of test cricket. Moreover most former and current cricketers won't allow ICC to take such a decision. This iwas the primary reason why ICC started world test championship.

That's right test matches are hardly watched by anyone , yes some of true cricket fans follow updates and watch few overs but the 5 day long game is totally exertion for players and most of the matches end in a draw.
Icc should work on 2 formats and improve them to their best by adding new countries,  building new teams and training them to create competition.

[Sithara007]

I actually do not know if any new country is able to play test cricket. As I said earlier most of them are into T20 & ODI. The ICC cannot just go ahead and remove test cricket. Few countries like England, Australia and New Zealand have a good fan base of test cricket. Moreover most former and current cricketers won't allow ICC to take such a decision. This iwas the primary reason why ICC started world test championship.

Established nations are so good in test cricket, because they have a domestic 4-day system in place which is many decades or even many centuries old. No one can match the standards of Sheffield Shield cricket in Australia or the county championship in England. Even the domestic 4-day competitions in India, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa maintain a very high standard. For new countries such as Ireland and Afghanistan, setting up such a system may take many years, if not decades (that is if they get access to enough funds).

[MusaPk]

I actually do not know if any new country is able to play test cricket. As I said earlier most of them are into T20 & ODI. The ICC cannot just go ahead and remove test cricket. Few countries like England, Australia and New Zealand have a good fan base of test cricket. Moreover most former and current cricketers won't allow ICC to take such a decision. This iwas the primary reason why ICC started world test championship.

Established nations are so good in test cricket, because they have a domestic 4-day system in place which is many decades or even many centuries old. No one can match the standards of Sheffield Shield cricket in Australia or the county championship in England. Even the domestic 4-day competitions in India, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa maintain a very high standard. For new countries such as Ireland and Afghanistan, setting up such a system may take many years, if not decades (that is if they get access to enough funds).

I don't think any new country that's coming to cricket will be interested in Test. For Afghanistan, T20 is the best option and they are making good progress in that format. Very recently they won T20I series against Pakistan. Moreover in Pakistan and Afghanistan the tape ball cricket of shorter format (5 overs match) is much more popular among youngsters then red ball matches. That's also one reason why there is more T20 cricket in Pakistan and Afghanistan then red ball and Pakistan is going back in Test format.

[lixer]

I actually do not know if any new country is able to play test cricket. As I said earlier most of them are into T20 & ODI. The ICC cannot just go ahead and remove test cricket. Few countries like England, Australia and New Zealand have a good fan base of test cricket. Moreover most former and current cricketers won't allow ICC to take such a decision. This iwas the primary reason why ICC started world test championship.

Established nations are so good in test cricket, because they have a domestic 4-day system in place which is many decades or even many centuries old. No one can match the standards of Sheffield Shield cricket in Australia or the county championship in England. Even the domestic 4-day competitions in India, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa maintain a very high standard. For new countries such as Ireland and Afghanistan, setting up such a system may take many years, if not decades (that is if they get access to enough funds).

I wish that ICC needs to make few changes with end the ODI format from 2031 World Cup, and we will have only two formats T20i and test with test needs to be in tier system top 6 and then lower 6 which will help them to increase quality, and they also need to work on T20i with having 20 to 24 teams in world cup and giving them chances into bilateral series and regional events surely going to increase good fan base and also having good marketing as well because now things are changing drastically in sports, and we will have also good changes for the better future of this game B-4 is already having good system for test and their finances are also allowing them to support this all, but now it's time for others to improve their system and quality as well because this is most important if you want alive in current world.

[Unknown Op]

Test format is a different form of cricket and they literally tests the patience , maturity and sensibility of any player .
Pakistan is not good in test format but they are really set in t20 format  so that's the difference.

Pakistan used to be one of the best teams in test format, during the times of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar. Nowadays there are very few test specialists around the world. Steve Smith and Joe Root are examples. But Pakistan doesn't have any of these specialists. Their players are more suited for limited overs cricket and this is one of the reasons why their performance in the longer format has gone down. When Rameez Raja was the president of the PCB, he revamped the 4-day domestic tournament. Hopefully this will bear fruit in the medium to long term.

It is true that Pakistan has struggled in Test cricket in recent years and the current team may not have enough players with the necessary skills. Yet it is crucial to keep in mind that cricket is a cyclical sport and teams go through stages of development and rebuilding. New Test specialists in Pakistan may develop as a result of Rameez Raja's modifications to the domestic system. In addition while the shorter version of cricket may be more well liked Test cricket is still the apex of the game and Pakistan has a long history of triumphs in this format. The squad's recent triumph over South Africa the top ranked team in the world is proof of their potential and is encouraging for the future.

[Sithara007]

I wish that ICC needs to make few changes with end the ODI format from 2031 World Cup, and we will have only two formats T20i and test with test needs to be in tier system top 6 and then lower 6 which will help them to increase quality, and they also need to work on T20i with having 20 to 24 teams in world cup and giving them chances into bilateral series and regional events surely going to increase good fan base and also having good marketing as well because now things are changing drastically in sports, and we will have also good changes for the better future of this game B-4 is already having good system for test and their finances are also allowing them to support this all, but now it's time for others to improve their system and quality as well because this is most important if you want alive in current world.

I don't know whether asking more countries to play the longer format is the right thing to do. Test cricket takes huge amount of resources and even the lower raked full members such as West Indies and Bangladesh are struggling to keep up. If you ask teams such as Scotland and Namibia to give more attention to the longer format (without any corresponding increase in the funds), then I don't think that it is going to be very beneficial in the long run. IMO, T20 should be the format used for expansion. The ICC should immediately expand the T20 World Cup to a minimum of 24 teams.

[mm2543363580]

I wish that ICC needs to make few changes with end the ODI format from 2031 World Cup, and we will have only two formats T20i and test with test needs to be in tier system top 6 and then lower 6 which will help them to increase quality, and they also need to work on T20i with having 20 to 24 teams in world cup and giving them chances into bilateral series and regional events surely going to increase good fan base and also having good marketing as well because now things are changing drastically in sports, and we will have also good changes for the better future of this game B-4 is already having good system for test and their finances are also allowing them to support this all, but now it's time for others to improve their system and quality as well because this is most important if you want alive in current world.

I don't know whether asking more countries to play the longer format is the right thing to do. Test cricket takes huge amount of resources and even the lower raked full members such as West Indies and Bangladesh are struggling to keep up. If you ask teams such as Scotland and Namibia to give more attention to the longer format (without any corresponding increase in the funds), then I don't think that it is going to be very beneficial in the long run. IMO, T20 should be the format used for expansion. The ICC should immediately expand the T20 World Cup to a minimum of 24 teams.

One more point the generations who are fond of test format are long gone now  everyone loves t20 and ODI  so it's better to work on those formats and expand it as much as possible.
Test format is not practiced in many countries may be due to funds reason or preferences.

[WatChe]

I don't know whether asking more countries to play the longer format is the right thing to do. Test cricket takes huge amount of resources and even the lower raked full members such as West Indies and Bangladesh are struggling to keep up. If you ask teams such as Scotland and Namibia to give more attention to the longer format (without any corresponding increase in the funds), then I don't think that it is going to be very beneficial in the long run. IMO, T20 should be the format used for expansion. The ICC should immediately expand the T20 World Cup to a minimum of 24 teams.

T20 is much more competitive then test and ODI. We saw Zimbabwe and Netherlands in last T20 World Cup beating teams like Pakistan and South Africa. This is something not possible in test as test is proper cricket and you can compete in test only if you have genuine cricket infrastructure. I think Bangladesh is the last country to join as a full test team since then there is no such inclusion. T20 is liked and most viewed format that's why ICC must promote this cricket in countries that are willing to join.