ICC chairman Greg Barclay warns of reduction in volume of Test cricket in future

The everincreasing domestic T20 leagues are squeezing bilateral ties and Test cricket runs the risk of witnessing a reduction in its volume in a decades time warns International Cricket Council ICC chairman Greg BarclayBarclay who was appointed as ICC chair in November 2020 said the world body will face a serious challenge in deciding the next Future Tours Program starting next yearThere is a mens and womens event every year and the growth of domestic leagues are forcing things from the bottom and what is getting squeezed is bilateral cricket and so we are trying to fit everything in Barclay told BBCs Test Match Special during the ongoing first game of the threematch series between England and New Zealand at LordsThere will be some unfortunate consequences from a playing experience and a revenue point of view for some of those countries who wont get the amount of cricket they might hope to have and they wont get exposure particularly against India and to a lesser extent Australia and England So we will see a squeezeIn 1015 years time I still see Test cricket being an integral part of the game it may be that there is less of it he added Barclay hinted that the big three of world cricket India Australia and England will be largely unaffected by the adjustments in Test cricketRead AlsoJimmy the Lord of LordrsquosSome countries may have to make room and play less Test cricket Some of the smaller full members will have to accept that they cant play the amount of Test cricket that they wanted to so we may see a lessening of that four or five a year whereas England Australia and India I think will be playing Test cricket as they are nowThe ICC chair however doesnt see the longer format evolving in womens cricket at a significant paceTo play Test cricket youve got to have structures domestically that allow you to play longform cricket and they dont really exist in any of the countries at the moment so I cant really see womens Test cricket or longform cricket evolving at any particular speed at all he saidThats not to say that those countries that choose to play Test cricket Australia and England who provide that to the women cant do so but I dont see it as part of the landscape moving forward to any real extent at allThe Kiwi feels whiteball cricket is the future due to its popularity among fans and broadcastersIf you look at strategically the way that cricket is going theres no doubt that whiteball cricket shortform cricket is the way of the future Thats the game thats sought after by fans thats where the broadcasters are putting their resource its whats driving the money Barclay concludedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever