Aman
Test Captain
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Runs
- 47,061
TEST cricket, as we know it, has a shelf life of five years.
That’s the alarming assessment of cricket’s traditional format handed down by England great Kevin Pietersen, who believes within five-to-ten years there will be no Test cricket played outside of the major rivalries.
Pietersen enjoyed a colourful but undeniably successful career across 104 Tests for England, plundering 8181 runs at an average of 47.28 with 23 centuries.
If Pietersen’s premonitions prove correct, it is unimaginable that a young cricketer would get anywhere near those numbers in the future.
The South African-born star listed the Ashes and Tests between South Africa and England alongside the Pakistan-India series – which hasn’t been contested since 2007 due to the volatile political divide between the two nations – as the three which would survive the looming cull.
But it’s likely that group could be expanded to include the lucrative Test series between superpowers Australia and India, and perhaps a handful of others.
But the rest? There’s no future, according to the big-hitting right-hander.
“I think that the major Test rivalries – the Ashes, Pakistan vs. India, South Africa vs. England – I think those will really, really stay and will stand the test of time,” said Pietersen.
“But all the other ones, I’m afraid to say, I don’t think will be in existence in the next five-to-ten years.
“It’ll just be franchise T20s. And that’s just the way it is. Everyone is fast-paced.
“And people will shoot me down for saying it. But watch. I’ve said a lot of things in my life.”
Pietersen made the comments at the launch of South Africa’s new Twenty20 competition, the Global League, at the luxurious Bulgari Hotel in the affluent London area of Knightsbridge.
The money on show said everything you need to know about the future of cricket, Pietersen said.
“There’s a lot of money that’s been driven into launches like this,” he said.
“We’re in the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge. They paid a lot of money for it. You don’t launch a Test series at the Bulgari.”
Pietersen was on Monday announced as one of eight overseas marquee players for the Global League, alongside the likes of fellow T20 specialists Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Brendon McCullum.
Those big names are in addition to the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, who take their places as marquee local players in the eight-team competition.
“For me it’s an exciting opportunity because of South Africa now taking their T20 cricket to the next level,” Pietersen said.
“To participate in a tournament where all the South African players will play, you’ll have a lot of the marquee players coming over – it means the standard will be raised and it’s going to be a fantastic, fantastic four or five weeks.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket...t/news-story/444294429d711290a5b13c5e9dbe92a9
That’s the alarming assessment of cricket’s traditional format handed down by England great Kevin Pietersen, who believes within five-to-ten years there will be no Test cricket played outside of the major rivalries.
Pietersen enjoyed a colourful but undeniably successful career across 104 Tests for England, plundering 8181 runs at an average of 47.28 with 23 centuries.
If Pietersen’s premonitions prove correct, it is unimaginable that a young cricketer would get anywhere near those numbers in the future.
The South African-born star listed the Ashes and Tests between South Africa and England alongside the Pakistan-India series – which hasn’t been contested since 2007 due to the volatile political divide between the two nations – as the three which would survive the looming cull.
But it’s likely that group could be expanded to include the lucrative Test series between superpowers Australia and India, and perhaps a handful of others.
But the rest? There’s no future, according to the big-hitting right-hander.
“I think that the major Test rivalries – the Ashes, Pakistan vs. India, South Africa vs. England – I think those will really, really stay and will stand the test of time,” said Pietersen.
“But all the other ones, I’m afraid to say, I don’t think will be in existence in the next five-to-ten years.
“It’ll just be franchise T20s. And that’s just the way it is. Everyone is fast-paced.
“And people will shoot me down for saying it. But watch. I’ve said a lot of things in my life.”
Pietersen made the comments at the launch of South Africa’s new Twenty20 competition, the Global League, at the luxurious Bulgari Hotel in the affluent London area of Knightsbridge.
The money on show said everything you need to know about the future of cricket, Pietersen said.
“There’s a lot of money that’s been driven into launches like this,” he said.
“We’re in the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge. They paid a lot of money for it. You don’t launch a Test series at the Bulgari.”
Pietersen was on Monday announced as one of eight overseas marquee players for the Global League, alongside the likes of fellow T20 specialists Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Brendon McCullum.
Those big names are in addition to the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, who take their places as marquee local players in the eight-team competition.
“For me it’s an exciting opportunity because of South Africa now taking their T20 cricket to the next level,” Pietersen said.
“To participate in a tournament where all the South African players will play, you’ll have a lot of the marquee players coming over – it means the standard will be raised and it’s going to be a fantastic, fantastic four or five weeks.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket...t/news-story/444294429d711290a5b13c5e9dbe92a9
