The case for extra ladies’s Tests — lengthy overdue however not as simple

“We didn’t get too many opportunities in the Test format when we were playing cricket, but hopefully, the new generation will get many more games. We have a busy schedule in the T20Is and ODIs, but Tests are actually a format that teaches you patience and gives a chance to improve your skills,” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur stated after her first recreation as Test skipper. She led the workforce to a thumping 347-run win over archrival England within the one-off Test in Navi Mumbai this month.

Where has one heard this name for extra Tests earlier than?

Oh sure, after the exceptional draw in opposition to England in Bristol and the identical outcome in opposition to Australia within the Pink Ball Test in Carrara, each in 2021. Op-eds, interview quotes, and evaluation items of an identical vein got here round as soon as extra after England drew South Africa in a lone Test in 2022. The dialog for extra Test cricket within the ladies’s recreation generally looks like a disc operating in a damaged file participant, gratingly caught in the identical spot.

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An enormous-three unique?

How sensible is a name for extra red-ball cricket within the ladies’s worldwide ecosystem?

“If you look at the larger picture, it’s only Australia, England, and India playing because these are the boards with the resources to do so. Having said that, none of us have domestic cricket for the longest version of the game. To expect Test cricket to grow, it needs to return at the domestic level,” former India captain Shubhangi Kulkarni factors out.

“Australia and England play for historical reasons. India has always wanted to play Test cricket, and despite getting few games, it usually does well at it. From sponsorship to spectators and TV coverage, I don’t know if there’s as much of an appetite for Test cricket as compared to the shorter formats. But it can always be built, and a way to do that is by getting it back at the domestic level,” the seasoned administrator provides.

After struggling to acclimatise adequately to the pressures of Test cricket within the unforgiving warmth and humidity of Navi Mumbai, England skipper Heather Knight stated this: “Maybe if we had a two- or three-match series, we’d be able to use these lessons and get better.”

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That suggestion makes former India ladies’s coach and veteran cricketer WV Raman smile.

“I am sure that even the solitary Test played is happening after a lot of conversations back and forth. If we get anything more than a single Test, and if we get a two- or three-match series, I will be incredibly surprised. That can only happen if more than three or four countries want this for the game. Otherwise, allegations of just these top countries getting everything will understandably crop up.”

Inability to adapt: England was undone by “super extreme” situations in its Test defeat by India, stated captain Heather Knight (center).
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI

From home to worldwide

Kulkarni belongs to an period the place Tests have been half and parcel of the expertise of worldwide cricket. She was the primary Indian girl to attain a half-century and take 5 wickets in a single Test, a feat Deepti Sharma emulated in opposition to England within the not too long ago concluded Test. However, as an administrator, she sees advantage in going the white-ball approach when the primary activity is to popularise the sport as extensively as attainable.

“When I was in the ICC Women’s Committee, before the merger with the ICC, a lot of Tests were played, but when women’s cricket came under the ICC, T20s and ODIs became the priority. That move is helping the game grow, so when authorities make decisions, they look at data points, economics, and more. Sponsorship, affordability, and coverage will all be important points,” she explains.

It’s straightforward to see the parallels in England, which, together with Australia, has pioneered how ladies’s cricket is promoted, with choices like The Hundred.

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“We’re seeing the Hundred; we have T10. People are going shorter and shorter with game formats as well. So how is that surge balanced with this need to revive and maintain Test cricket is one we’ll have to watch out for,” she provides.

Before the lone Test, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana stated that home buildings comply with the calls for of the worldwide scene. With white-ball cricket being the order of enterprise, the selection trickles all the way down to the grassroots.

“To be fair, the domestic structure was formed based on one-day and T20 because those are the World Cups that are frequent at the international level. I’ve just played four Tests in 10 odd years of international cricket. Maybe we’ll see a new tournament at the domestic level. But the domestic scene will change itself according to what the international demands are,” Mandhana had stated earlier than the sport.

Both Raman and Kulkarni imagine that the home scene can set the tempo.

“We have been proposing a two-day tournament at the inter-zonal level, which gives an opportunity to at least 15 girls from each zone. So 75 girls at least get a taste of the longest version of the game, which will definitely help fine-tune basic skills in the format,” Kulkarni explains.

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“At the domestic level, red-ball cricket can come up at the junior or age group levels so that you’re not thrown into the deep end when the format comes up later in your career, as is the case with the U16 boys, who get a feel for it early on. A good phase for more red-ball cricket is the U23 phase. They’d be stronger physically; they would have had an idea of the two-day format at the U16 level and white-ball cricket. And they would be able to fine-tune their game better. With the advent of the Women’s Premier League, we will have more kids taking up cricket and white-ball cricket. Playing all formats should be done to fit a purpose, rather than blindly making all formats available. A balance is key,” Raman states.

Pressure of expectations

Before one is aware of it, India performs one other red-ball fixture in opposition to Alyssa Healy-led Australia. The Aussies play their 78th Test fixture in opposition to an Indian aspect that has proven nice promise within the final three Tests it has performed, all within the final two years. While the tape will play an identical tune on the finish of that train round December 24, a tussle between two nice rivals awaits, with a lesser-experienced India getting in with a marginal higher hand.

Shubha Satheesh
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI

“With these results fresh in the mind, pressure is on India, particularly because you’re playing at home. The girls have created expectations. People are used to seeing you doing that well—a pressure Australia knows too well,” Raman concludes.