Why don't Pakistanis watch Test match cricket anymore?

[Loralai]

I remember the excitement that used to be felt throughout the country when Pakistan played Test cricket, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Anyone who was in Pakistan during England's visit in 1987/1988 will recall the excitement up and down the country, especially when the late great Abdul Qadir took 9-56 at Lahore. People were glued to their TV sets and huddled around radios.

However those days seem long gone now. I have observed that many people don't even know now when Pakistan is playing. If they do know, they don't even care. Very sad state of affairs.

 

[Rana]

I remember the excitement that used to be felt throughout the country when Pakistan played Test cricket, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Anyone who was in Pakistan during England's visit in 1987/1988 will recall the excitement up and down the country, especially when the late great Abdul Qadir took 9-56 at Lahore. People were glued to their TV sets and huddled around radios.

However those days seem long gone now. I have observed that many people don't even know now when Pakistan is playing. If they do know, they don't even care. Very sad state of affairs.

They are missing household names

Babar Azam can restore some of that interest. He is the only reason why I still invest time in following Pakistan, I love to follow his progress.

They need a few more to restore that interest in the lost masses

 

[Kroll]

I remember the excitement that used to be felt throughout the country when Pakistan played Test cricket, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Anyone who was in Pakistan during England's visit in 1987/1988 will recall the excitement up and down the country, especially when the late great Abdul Qadir took 9-56 at Lahore. People were glued to their TV sets and huddled around radios.

However those days seem long gone now. I have observed that many people don't even know now when Pakistan is playing. If they do know, they don't even care. Very sad state of affairs.

Would you pay hard earned money to go and watch the likes of Azar Ali and Asad Shafiq or some random bowling kids that were chucked in to the team out of the blue?

I might if I was suffering from bouts of insomnia or needed some comic relief.

They are missing household names

Babar Azam can restore some of that interest. He is the only reason why I still invest time in following Pakistan, I love to follow his progress.

They need a few more to restore that interest in the lost masses

Good point.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Do you have any numbers on viewership of test matches? I'd be very curious to know some hard facts on viewership, demographics etc and how it compares to other media/forms of entertainment.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

For the same reason the majority listen to 2 minute pop songs over classical music concertos etc. Our lives are extremely fast paced now and nobody has time for the finer things in life .

 

[hashimafzal]

Test cricket is very impractical to watch live. First of all matches are played during the day, most people are at school/work and simply have different commitments.

Secondly, the pace of the game and lack of action coupled with odd viewing hours make it a lot more practical to follow along on Cricinfo or any other app. Viewers can always come in for a session or two, but who has the time to commit to watching Test Cricket?

As much as I love it being the purest form of the game, we must be really honest with ourselves with the fact that the viewership for test cricket will simply continue to decline.

 

[ElRaja]

since the uae period pak test cricket is staggeringly attritional and boring and test cricket is a format which allows u to play that way and still win some games.

if pak started winning again, and against good teams at home the interest would return quickly, especially with social media and if u have more day/night tests.

 

[Markhor]

They are missing household names

Babar Azam can restore some of that interest. He is the only reason why I still invest time in following Pakistan, I love to follow his progress.

They need a few more to restore that interest in the lost masses

Even in the 1990s and 2000s with the likes of Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib, Inzamam etc Test cricket in Pakistan was generally played in front of near empty stands.

India's tour of 2004 saw more security guards than actual spectators, and there were loads of big names on both sides.

 

[shah_1]

People simply don't have the time to watch in fast pace world we live in

 

[Energy]

Same all for teams, bar maybe England and Australia. Don't think its due to players. 2 test match series are a joke.

Give Pakistan a 5-match series against India and then we're talking. Win or lose, the sponsors will rake in a billion.

 

[MMHS]

I remember the excitement that used to be felt throughout the country when Pakistan played Test cricket, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Anyone who was in Pakistan during England's visit in 1987/1988 will recall the excitement up and down the country, especially when the late great Abdul Qadir took 9-56 at Lahore. People were glued to their TV sets and huddled around radios.

However those days seem long gone now. I have observed that many people don't even know now when Pakistan is playing. If they do know, they don't even care. Very sad state of affairs.

I think, people don’t watch Test cricket these days simply because of the duration of the game. Life has changed lot in last two decades, particularly with broadband internet on your palm top.... in that regard, I don’t think any one watches Test cricket anywhere that much. 2-3 hours, may be high light or an exciting last day(s), if it’s on the weekend....

The appropriate question can be - why PAK fans don’t follow Test cricket anymore - in fact, I won’t even add the word “Test” in that; PAK fans don’t follow their cricket much anymore. The reason probably is known to everyone - it’s a combination of the player profile, the quality of the cricket (& the ranking of the team as well) and the expectation.

It’s really hard to follow a team passionately for an odd upset win, which is this current team’s only capacity. It’s not an issue for BD, AFG, ZIM or even SRL fans - a poor man can always keep hoping to win a lottery one day but it’s really, really difficult to cope up with poverty after growing up in a palace.....

 

[Titan24]

I dont think there is any other sport in the world where the match lasts for 5 days from morning to evening. As many have mentioned, in the current world majority of people dont have that much time in a fast paced live.

Still pure cricket fans in Pakistan do watch tests when they have time on the weekends or during the evenings, you can judge that by the trends on social media whenever there is a match going on.

Mainly as I said life has become too busy everywhere so its difficult to follow even bilateral ODIs for some people which are still much much longer than most of the sports around. Every country loves having sports for evenings and weekends in and for the countries which mostly play and watch cricket that part for new and even some old fans is taken by T20s and leagues which finishes in 3, 3.5 hours.

Also I think test cricket and maybe cricket as a whole needs better packaging, marketing and more rivalries. Sporting rivalries of every sport are the biggest events around. Whether its football, tennis, NBA etc. In test cricket there is only Ashes and Pak vs Ind is not looking likely anytime soon.

 

[Mesozoic]

They don't ?

Just a month ago when Pakistan lost that first Test on the final day, Twitter was filled with disappointed Pak fans asking for Misbah's head. #PakvsEng was the no.1 trend.

 

[Loralai]

Even when the team was weak (i.e. in the 60s), people still watched Test cricket with enthusiasm and it was followed widely. Test matches in Pakistan were a huge event, even though the team was weak and the tactics defensive.

 

[JattMaula]

Even cricket following people in India look at me judgingly when they catch me watching/following test matches. Death of test cricket in India is fait accompli. Sad but true.

 

[sweep_shot]

New generation probably doesn't find Test appealing. It is the case worldwide.

Also, Test format has some illogical rules (bad light, for example).

 

[topspin]

You can watch test cricket if you change your working hours.

 

[U$ofA]

Is it safe to assume that all the posters on this forum claiming test cricket as the premium version are a minute percentage of Pakistan fans?

Perhaps the very people who claim that tests are the premium format, do not bother to watch much of a test match. Let alone the majority who are least interested in tests.

 

[HarunPakCricket]

I remember the excitement that used to be felt throughout the country when Pakistan played Test cricket, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Anyone who was in Pakistan during England's visit in 1987/1988 will recall the excitement up and down the country, especially when the late great Abdul Qadir took 9-56 at Lahore. People were glued to their TV sets and huddled around radios.

However those days seem long gone now. I have observed that many people don't even know now when Pakistan is playing. If they do know, they don't even care. Very sad state of affairs.

There are 3 reasons for this:

1- No stars anymore besides Babar. Maybe Shaheen or Naseem in the future but that would be far off.
2- Test matches are too long. How would anyone have time to watch a test match these days.
3- We’re minnows. Pakistan is a SL/BAN/WI like team and fans expect them to play like India or Australia LMAO. Why would anyone waste their time on minnows?

 

[gibsyhesperis]

Is it safe to assume that all the posters on this forum claiming test cricket as the premium version are a minute percentage of Pakistan fans?

Perhaps the very people who claim that tests are the premium format, do not bother to watch much of a test match. Let alone the majority who are least interested in tests.

I can think of no front line player of any significance who values ODI cricket over Test cricket.
Someone like Jos Buttler (a star of white ball cricket) stated how important it was for him to be part of the Test team, as it is the ultimate test of a player.

 

[CanadianG00se]

They don't ?

Just a month ago when Pakistan lost that first Test on the final day, Twitter was filled with disappointed Pak fans asking for Misbah's head. #PakvsEng was the no.1 trend.

Watching and following a test match is not the same.

I don’t watch test match but I follow it by casually checking scorecard and/or short video of day’s play.

 

[CanadianG00se]

I can think of no front line player of any significance who values ODI cricket over Test cricket.
Someone like Jos Buttler (a star of white ball cricket) stated how important it was for him to be part of the Test team, as it is the ultimate test of a player.

Players preference doesn’t make much of a difference if it’s not economically viable. We are already witnessing that most of the bottom 7 nations are struggling to host a test match(due to high expenses and low income) and scrapping it to accommodate more LOIs.
Most of the so called test fans are dwindling rapidly. Let the law of economics decide the fate of test matches.

 

[CanadianG00se]

There are 3 reasons for this:

1- No stars anymore besides Babar. Maybe Shaheen or Naseem in the future but that would be far off.
2- Test matches are too long. How would anyone have time to watch a test match these days.
3- We’re minnows. Pakistan is a SL/BAN/WI like team and fans expect them to play like India or Australia LMAO. Why would anyone waste their time on minnows?

Out of those 3, only # 2 seem to be major reason behind demise of test cricket. Even in late 90s and early 2000s fans were hardly present in Pakistan’s home games despite having big names. It shows that fans were already losing interest in test cricket well before we even anticipated.

Most cricket boards are accepting the reality that hosting a test series could be costly affairs, which is why we are seeing lot more nations are hosting just 2-test match series.

 

[U$ofA]

I can think of no front line player of any significance who values ODI cricket over Test cricket.
Someone like Jos Buttler (a star of white ball cricket) stated how important it was for him to be part of the Test team, as it is the ultimate test of a player.

With all due respect to the players, their opinion counts for zilch. What the fans gravitate towards is what counts.

The fans of the non big3 nations (perhaps Indian fans included) couldn't give a flying toss about test matches. Which is why these boards play so few tests. Hosting test matches for these boards bleeds money. Which is why they have now moved to 2 and 1 test "series". They have to take $$ made from ODI's and T20I's to pay for hosting tests.

So unfortunately, outside of Eng, Aus, fans couldn't care less about tests. If they did, they would show to the stadiums and in front of TV's.

 

[Shaka81]

Test cricket is boring and can only be made palatable by watching the highlights at the end of the day.... sometimes even they can be boring.

Also T20 has shown that cricket doesn't need to feel like a chore with instant gratification and the potential for drama on every delivery. It's even harder for Test cricket to compete with that.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Test cricket will always be a niche sport. Either you get it, (and love it) or you don't. It doesn't have widespread appeal and that is unlikely to change.

And though people keep talking about the death of Test cricket almost every month, that isn't going to happen either.

 

[Markhor]

Pakistan has been one of the worst places for Test cricket historically. The dull, lifeless pitches and lack of facilities for fans at the grounds are two key factors.

Those scenes of fans sitting on concrete steps in Rawalpindi last winter while the media enjoyed their plush new box summed it up.

Meanwhile you go to South Africa or New Zealand grounds and see open grass banks where families can have a day out. At lunchtimes, kids can come onto the field and play cricket. The fan service is on another level.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I don't recall seeing many capacity crowds in Pakistan in the 2000s even. Test matches at Multan, Karachi, Lahore boasted mostly empty stadiums. Pindi, Faisalabad brought out crowds but even Pindi didn't always have alot of people in the stands in test matches. Just watch the highlights of India's tours to Pakistan in 2004, 06' or any of the other tours by West Indies, South Africa during this period. Only recently did we see good crowds at a Test match and even those were for the Pindi tests. Karachi again, was mostly empty.

 

[Junaids]

The simple answer is "people who prefer white ball cricket generally aren't very sophisticated".

90% of 20 and 50 overs matches are already foregone conclusions after the first team has batted 10 overs. The other 75% of a T20 match and the other 90% of a 50 overs match is just wallpaper for morons.

People wrongly assume that sport has to be consumed by watching TV coverage. Those of us who grew up in the days of extensive radio coverage know much better.

I remember famous nights of action in what is now called the UEFA Champions League which I heard on BBC Radio 2. I remember Nottingham Forest drawing 3-3 at home to Dynamo Berlin, only to win 1-0 away and qualify.

The most exciting cricket series of my entire life was when Pakistan drew 1-1 in the West Indies in 1987-88. Anyone who says they watched it live is a liar. Anyone who says they listened to it on the radio is a liar too.

I was in England, and the games were played from 2 pm to 10 pm each day. Teletext - which was a TV-based precursor of the internet - updated the scorecard at the end of every session. The BBC World Service on the radio had a journalist at the ground who phoned in a report for its Sports Roundup bulletin twice during the hours of play. The same journalist also did a report once a day for BBC Radio 2, just after 7 pm.

So each day of the Test was consumed as follows:

2 pm - play starts
4.10 pm - Lunch scorecard uploaded on Ceefax teletext.
5.45 pm - short mid-afternoon update on Sports Roundup on BBC World Service Radio.
6.40 pm - Tea scorecard uploaded on Ceefax teletext.
7.05 pm - short radio update just after Tea on BBC Radio 2.
9.30 pm - end of day scorecard uploaded on Ceefax, short radio update on Sports Roundup on BBC World Service Radio.

It was thrilling - and you didn't need to sacrifice work or homework to consume it.

In terms of cricket, even now 80% of what I consume is either on the radio or score updates from Cricinfo or if I am at work it is wicket updates from the BBC app.

Most people can watch a couple of days of a Test match over the weekend, and follow it with internet score/wicket updates the rest of the time.

 

[Junaids]

I listed above how I consumed the West Indies v Pakistan series in 1987-88 by a combination of 3 end-of-session scorecard updates per day and 3 ninety second radio updates from the ground.

It took until 2019 for the first ever film coverage to be seen of it outside the West Indies - it's on YouTube now. and the weird thing is, watching the film it matches exactly what my memory retained from how the radio helped me to literally imagine it at the time.

You don't have to be there to consume a Test match. The BBC Sport internet coverage of home internationals is extraordinary: one or two text updates per over plus 30 second clips of wickets and innings reaching 50 or 100.

It's a fantastic way to consume a Test from school, university or work!

 

[cric_4life]

Even when the team was weak (i.e. in the 60s), people still watched Test cricket with enthusiasm and it was followed widely. Test matches in Pakistan were a huge event, even though the team was weak and the tactics defensive.

People back in those days didnt had the choice of One day cricket or T20s

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Nobody cares about test cricket outside England and Australia. Especially in 2020 where kids prefer Tiktok over YouTube.

The last generation of people who like watching tests outside Eng/AUS are the ones born before 1990.

 

[Shazzam]

Test cricket is not marketable for everybody. If you want people to actually get engaged Twenty20 is the best format. Its the format that allows you to get nail biting games instead of having to wait five days. In the future Test cricket will become much harder to sustain. They are going to have to make massive changes to get people engaged.

 

[cricketfan11]

I don't agree that outside England and Australia there is little interest in Test cricket. There is still plenty of interest in India, New Zealand and South Africa. The reason for this is that these teams have improved over time, either because they are producing better players or because their system has improved overall, or both.

Yes people prefer T20 and life is now too fast paced for someone to be glued to their TV for 5 days watching a man but a closely fought Test match still grabs headlines and gets discussed passionately in these countries.

Pakistanis are perhaps the most passionate cricket supporters in the world but their team has gone downhill. Despite a substandard domestic structure and a corrupt system, they could have still produced good players, but the priorities have been wrong. An example of this is Misbah's tenure as captain - where somehow Pakistan became a top Test team because playing conditions were utilised optimally, but somehow good players were not developed. The success in Misbah's regime was an illusion because we can see now how players look defensive, openers are still incompetent, bowlers don't know how to set batsmen up to take wickets etc.

I don't have anything against Misbah - but this should be a lesson for future decision makers not to give power to a defensive cricketer who appears to lack passion. To be fair the fault lies with Inzamam too who had the experience of playing with Pakistan's best players and had a lengthy career but couldn't develop players to become great.

 

[Hasan123]

I think it's due to how long it is, the style which Pakistan play. For the most part we play at a slow pace with the bat. You don't really want to watch that for a day. And I think we know we aren't good enough in tests and haven't been for a long time.

 

[Nasty Naz]

It's during working hours and it is 7-8 hours long. People don't have time to watch a match for that long for 5 days straight.

It's also a lot easier to consume any sports around the world among many other entertainment options whether that's video gaming, netflix etc. I was born in the 90's so I don't know what life was like in the 80's but I can't imagine there were that many entertainment options and the best way to watch Cricket back then was going to a live match instead of watching it on some 60 inch high definition TV nowadays.

The advent of T20 is another huge factor in overall decline of Test match interest. People watch T20 not just for the quicker pace of the game but also the fact it is only 3-3.5 hours and you could reasonably go there for the duration of the live match or watch it.

Day/night Test matches might bring some interest back but it is always going to be niche. Outside of hardcore Cricket fans, no one has the time to invest watching 5 day, 8 hour matches of slow paced Cricket. It's just not reasonable.

 

[shamaan]

I think it's due to how long it is, the style which Pakistan play. For the most part we play at a slow pace with the bat. You don't really want to watch that for a day. And I think we know we aren't good enough in tests and haven't been for a long time.

Good post yes slow pace with the bat and bowlers not bowling match winning spells or batters taking the attack to opposition

 

[watson367]

because we are terrible.

 

[ssuhaide]

With lockdowns in place across the world and more people across the world working from home watching / following test cricket is probably more achievable. One can work from home and have the radio in the background or have an iPad on where you can glance across when something happens. I'll always love test cricket. You get epic moments. Even though my family/kids aren't heavily into cricket we all watched the final few hours of the Stokes miracle test and Headingly and the Pakistan 1st test loss at Old Trafford.