NEIL MANTHORP: Future of Test cricket on trial in Windies series

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, SA lovers of Test cricket should be having paroxysms of delighted anticipation before the first Test against the West Indies starting at 4pm (SA time) in Trinidad on Wednesday.

There are others of course, for whom the epithets “out of sight, out of mind” and “gone and forgotten” might be more appropriate. It might sound dramatic, and you’ll have heard it before, but the big picture suggests there might be far more at stake during the Tests in Port of Spain and Georgetown, Guyana, over the next two weeks than merely the results.

SA still have hopes of reaching the final of the World Test Championship, though it will almost certainly require victory in both Tests in the Caribbean and probably in seven of the eight Tests they will play against four opponents over the next five months. The West Indies’ recent 3-0 loss to England ended their hopes of contesting the final in 2025.

But it is the future of the format itself that is “on trial” over the next two weeks, with head coach Shukri Conrad making it clear to the players that their only hope of changing the course of Test cricket, in which India, Australia and England play increasing Tests and series against each other and marginalise the rest, is to win.

It has been more than eight months since the national team last played in whites though the New Year’s Test against India might as well have been played in coloured clothing as it contained as many overs as a one-day international with the home side bowled out for 55 before lunch on the first day.

The seven-wicket loss left the series tied at 1-1 after the Proteas’ equally convincing innings victory in the first Test in Centurion. It was exciting — fast moving games usually are — but there were many who suggested the Newlands Test was confirmation that the format was unsustainable in SA and was dying an inevitable death.     

No play

Test matches rarely last five days in SA and the constant loss of the fifth day, and often much of the fourth, doesn’t make logistical or financial sense. Scheduling would benefit enormously too, with Thursday to-Sunday matches enabling three-match series to be concluded in three weeks. Add a few more overs each day and the difference between four and five days will hardly be noticed.

The most recent drawn Test in SA was against New Zealand in Durban in August 2016 when the sun shone for three days but there was no play because the newly relaid outfield was unplayable after rain. In fact, 25 of the 34 Test matches in SA since then have finished in four days, including 10 of the last 12. It is ridiculous that Test cricket in SA is still scheduled for five days.

Much will be made of home ground advantage and the West Indies are certainly a more formidable force in home conditions, but history still suggests the tourists will be overwhelming favourites.

Since winning the inaugural, one-off Test in Barbados 32 years ago, the West Indies have lost all eight subsequent series to SA, winning just two more matches, one in Jamaica in 2001 and one in Port Elizabeth in 2007. SA teams were stronger and more experienced in those years than the current one but the West Indian team of 2024 is equally inexperienced and unused to winning.

Kagiso Rabada, the most obvious exception, stands on the brink of becoming just the sixth SA player to reach 300 Test wickets, behind Dale Steyn (439), Shaun Pollock (421), Makhaya Ntini (390), Allan Donald (330) and Morné Morkel (309). He now has 291, the same as number as Jacques Kallis.

He admits the milestone would be “unbelievable” but is also aware of the big picture, saying that the big three nations “have most of the money” but that “playing good cricket, and winning, is the only way [we can hope] to play more Test cricket against them”.

Rabada’s wish for “good cricket” over the next fortnight may have to be satisfied with “winning cricket” rather than attractive cricket, with the pitches at both venues historically inclined to be slow turners favouring spinners rather than fast bowlers. They will be far more so for the team’s next assignment away to Bangladesh in October.

After that Sri Lanka and Pakistan visit SA for a pair of Tests each which, no doubt, won’t reach a fifth day, leading to more complaints about financial unsustainability. Still, there is an extremely important first step to take before the men from the subcontinent arrive. 

West Indies quad: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Mikyle Louis, Alick Athanaze, Tevin Imlach, Keacy Carty, Kavem Hodge, Joshua de Silva (vice-captain), Jason Holder, Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican, Bryan Charles, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales, Kemar Roach.

SA squad: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreyne, Matthew Breetzke, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Nandré Burger, Migael Pretorius. 

1st Test: August 7-11, Queens Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad

2nd Test: August 15-19, Providence Stadium, Georgetown, Guyana.