From Bob Woolmer’s famous book “Art and Science of Cricket”
we come to know, in 1893, Rev. Holmes wrote, “We know as much as the history of
cricket as we shall ever know now, and we have been told everything relating to
the science of the game. There is no fresh ground to be explored”.
Had Mr. Holmes been alive today, he would have to eat his
own words.
No other sports have ever gone under so many major and minor
changes over the last hundred years like cricket. It evolved, overcoming with
reasoned thought and some luck to exist which was threatened by the occasional
crisis. For the last fifty years, various revolutions stimulated this game to
progress further. The introduction of limited-overs cricket in late 60s
injected a new life, while in 2003, the emergence of limited-overs cricket’s offspring Twenty20
cricket, turned the world upside down.
The popularity of cricket’s newest format is sky high and
more than infusing various new concepts about the game, it has allowed the
overflow of cash, a major reason for it’s love among the modern day cricketers.
Since the emergence of instant cricket, it has posed a
challenge to the game’s most sacred format, Test cricket and the razzmatazz of
Twenty20 Leagues, have dented the interest of focusing on longer formats,
especially, First Class cricket. The habit of selecting a player in the Test
team on the basis of his form in instant cricket has become a regularity. They
might seem to be a correct move for a certain period, but in the long run, the
theory hit the nails on the head.
Alex Hales’ first class career started well, but his form in
the limited-overs format overshadowed his zest for the first class matches. He
used his height to a great extent in Twenty20 and one-day cricket and his
ability to hit the ball hard, makes him a deadly customer in colour clothings.
The hierarchy of English Cricket decided to include Hales on the basis of his
excellent form in limited-overs cricket. Hales was given the task to partner
Alastair Cook at the top of the order, but as soon as the colour of the clothes
changed, Hales’ batting became pale.
He could fetch runs from those balls delivered in and around
the off stump in a Twenty20 or 50-over cricket, but in test cricket, he was
found wanting outside off. Neither he could guard his off stump well, nor his
feet moved well enough to counter the moving ball. He struggled to get behind
the line of the ball and thus, walked to the pavilion quite early.
Then there is a player named Glenn Maxwell from Australia,
who is an absolute murderer of the cricket ball when it comes to Twenty20
cricket, but whenever he comes out to bat in Test cricket, the runs dry up and
technically he is found wanting.
Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, a bowler named Mohammad Shahid was
included in the Test team one year back on the basis of his performance in
First Class cricket. He is a medium-pacer, who can bowl in long spells and
proved a point in the Test against South Africa where his ability to
stranglehold the batsmen created an ideal platform for the strike bowlers to
fetch wickets and thus, triggered a collapse in the first innings. Shahid
bowled tirelessly, defying the heat and humidity and his nagging length and incisive
line suffocated the top order batsmen. He earned such abilities via bowling on
unhelpful conditions in the domestic circuit. His selection, ahead of some
celebrated performers in the limited-overs format, earned criticisms, but in
the end, they ended up in praises for the man.
Hales and Maxwell created an aura through their ballistic
batsmanshi p in the limited-overs format which vanished in the twinkle of an eye
while playing in white clothes. Whereas, Shahid’s workhorse like approach
towards the game, didn’t create an aura, but it helped him to deliver the goods
when it mattered the most in the best format of the game – Test cricket.
Players like Hales, Maxwell and Shahid always triggers the
debate of whether a player should be selected in the Test team, depending on
his performance in limited-overs cricket or first class cricket.
Modern day cricket fans and a few of the critics and
experts, wish to see a decent limited-overs performer in the Test squad with
immediate effect. In the cricket talk shows on television, they argue and
debate to back their thinking, but they always miss the most important point,
to be a competent Test cricketer, one needs to be a very good performer and
spend enough time in first class cricket.
What the first class cricket can teach a cricketer, the pomp
and grandeur of Twnety20 and one-day cricket cannot teach at all.
First class cricket has always served as the backbone of
international cricket and the ideal place to develop cricketers into top class
performers. The three or four-day matches are not just cricket matches, but a
platform where a young cricketer learns the importance of being patient and
disciplined enough when the going gets tough.
A batsman learns the art of occupying the crease, the
importance of leaving the ball and learn to curb his aggressive intent, adjust
his back, lift and foot work and guard his offstump against the moving ball by
playing first class cricket. While a bowler learns to adjust his line and
length according to the demand of the situation and how to inject variety in
his bowling and use the popping crease when the wickets are not falling.
It also helps in maintaining the fitness and temperament
which are highly essential to play cricket at the top level.
Then there are those tiny details of the game which can only
be mastered in the tough arena of first class cricket.
Either a batsman or a bowler can’t be judged through
ballistic hitting or four or ten overs of bowling. In the limited overs format,
even a poor stroke or bad ball can produce results, but in test cricket, they
are equivalent to death.
The demands of Test cricket is always high. The slightest of
chinks in the armory of a batsman or bowler can make his life difficult in Test
cricket. And for which, playing enough
domestic cricket is a must.
Damien Martyn had been a limited-overs performer for
Australia since his debut as a Test cricketer in 1992-93. For a brief period,
his technical insufficiencies halted his entry in the Test team, but he didn’t
wish to end up as a limited-overs performer, but worked hard in Shield cricket
which transformed him into a very good batsman both technically and
temperamentally.
Even the likes of Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer reached
their peak of excellence only because of breaking down sweat in Shield cricket.
Imran Khan was an average bowler at the start of his career
and ten years later, he was one of the ferocious bowlers in the world during
the 80s. Imran’s development as a genuine fast bowler was due to bowling long
spells in a hectic fashion in County Cricket and Shield Cricket. By bowling on
variety on tough and challenging conditions, he learned the pros and cons of
fast bowling and ended up as one of the legends of the game.
Meanwhile, one cannot earn the tag “The Wall” so easily
until and unless he has polished his technique by playing first class cricket. Ask Rahul Dravid about the secret of his
astonishing success in test cricket, he will tell you about the value of first
class cricket.
Obviously there are exceptions, but exceptions or extraordinary
talents cannot be the yardstick.
Colin Powell said, “If you are going to achieve excellence
in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an
exception, it is a prevailing attitude”. If a cricketer wish to become the ultimate
legend of the game, he needs to develop the habit in little matters and he can
only develop this by playing first class cricket.
A cricketer should be judged on the basis of his performance
in Test cricket while, he should not be selected in the Test team on the basis
of his performance in limited-overs format.
This game of glorious uncertainty needs the ultimate legends
and not bits-and-pieces cricketers.
Note: This article was published at Sportskeeda on 11/09/2016 What warrants a Test match slot - Limited overs performance or performance in first class cricket
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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