Former England pacer Stuart Broad felt the players still have an affinity towards the longer format of the game despite several cases of them skipping the Test format for franchise T20 leagues across the world as well. However, the World Test Championship (WTC) has helped rejuvenate the format and bring context to every game as well. Played in two years, the WTC has seen two winners in New Zealand and Australia for the 2019-21 and 2021-23 editions so far, respectively, with India finishing runners-up on both times as well.
“I am a believer particularly that T20 and Test cricket can live as great friends. They can live together, they can work together and grow the sport. I think players have a love for Test cricket still,” Broad explained.
Meanwhile, England’s Bazball approach of playing which is an attacking brand of cricket made headlines since mid-2022, which has seen an increase in crowds at the stadiums too. And, Stuart Broad believes Test cricket should co-exist with the T20s by removing limitations and making it more of a spectacle like the T20 format as well. He also called for Test cricket to utilize sponsors that will enhance the finances to bridge the gap between the highest and lowest Test-playing nations as well.
Speaking on SportsBoom, Stuart Broad said, “The limitations don’t work. So there’s certainly scope to open up Test match cricket to partners and bring in finances that way. In T20 cricket you only have to look at the shirts out there. You’ve got sponsor, sponsor, sponsor – like Formula 1. Test cricket is so limited and so structured, I used to get told off for having an Adidas logo on my sweat band. You would get fined for it, so the limitations don’t work.”
“There’s certainly scope to open up Test match cricket to partners and bring in finances that way. We need to reduce the gap between the lowest paid nations and the top paid nations in Test cricket. If you could get to the stage where players were paid similarly around the world then you’ve got more chance of attracting players to play it,” he concluded.
