Ahead of the second match between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge, former captain Nasser Hussain has expressed his concern on the future of Test cricket. Hussain’s comments came after England defeated West Indies by an innings and 114 runs in the first hour of day three in the first Test at Lord’s.
Photo : Screengrab from Sky Sports Cricket video
Nasser Hussain opens up on future of Test cricket
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Nasser Hussain speaks about the future of Test cricket
- Hussain’s comments come after one-sided Test match between England and West Indies
- Hussain feels that teams are not preparing properly for red-ball matches
Former cricketer Nasser Hussain has opened up on the future of Test cricket after England registered a dominating and quickfire win over the West Indies in the first Test at Lord’s. The Ben Stokes-led England defeated West Indies by an innings and 114 runs in the first hour of day three, to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Ahead of the second Test at Trent Bridge, which starts on Thursday live, former England captain Hussain expressed his concern, saying that teams are not preparing properly for red-ball matches due to an ever-expanding and busy cricket calendar.
Notably, West Indies played just one three-day red-ball game in preparation for the Test series. Moreover, the majority of the members in the tourists squad haven’t played red-ball cricket since the thrilling eight-run win over Australia at Brisbane in January.
“Those two days summed up for me where we are with Test cricket. You talk about all the batting they could have but they’re off in a white-ball sunset, you’ve got bowlers who haven’t bowled, you’ve got undercooked cricketers, and then you lose the toss and have the worst of conditions, and everyone goes ‘Test cricket is dying’, but if you prepare for a Test match like that you’ll get exactly what England get when they go away,” Hussain told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
“It frustrates me because you’ve got to give Test matches the preparation that they deserve, which is a very easy thing to say but a very difficult thing to do in modern times,” he added.
The 56-year-old further mentioned that the issue is not just specific to the West Indies team. He gave the example of England, who have struggled when they toured the Caribbean two years ago and their winter series in India, where they were beaten 4-1.
“The other story is ‘the West Indies are in terminal decline’ – England haven’t won in the Caribbean for two decades and [the West Indies] hold the Richard-Botham Trophy,” Hussain said.
“England travel to India or Australia and don’t particularly do well, so it shouldn’t just be a West Indies story. All it does is add to the fact that Test-match cricket is in a difficult place and it is sort of self-perpetuating.
“If you don’t look after it, then sides turn up and put in a performance like that, and everyone goes, ‘Told you, Test-match cricket is dying’. Listening to you speaking to Jimmy Anderson after 188 Test matches on the podium, I would like to think we would try to look after Test-match cricket,” he added.
Now, it will be interesting to see whether the second Test of the three-match series between England and the West Indies at Trent Bridge will be competitive or not.