Hadlee: Test cricket still top format

SIR RICHARD Hadlee, former New Zealand cricketing great, has pointed out that Test cricket is his preferred choice of the game, even though he has no problem with the growth of the one-day formats (50-overs and T20s).

The 62-year-old Hadlee was on a recent visit to Trinidad to promote the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be staged jointly in Australia and New Zealand.

Hadlee noted, “I’m a purist in the sense that I believe in the traditional game, the five-day game, where skill, durability, technique, handling pressure over a period of time and changing conditions, that’s where I was brought up with and that’s where I go along with.

“But we all accept that the 50-over game and the T20 game subsidises and finances the longer version of the game,” he continued. “It generates huge wealth and income for cricketing bodies, and that money can go back into cricket. Good crowd participation because you want (an) atmosphere at the games, perhaps you don’t get that at Test cricket but certainly in one-dayers and T20s you’re getting massive crowds.”

“I would have gotten frustrated with it I think because the good quality ball that you can bowl, you’ll get hit for six, and I wouldn’t like that,” he said. “To me, it’s a form of cricket, it’s not real cricket. The real cricket is the Test game, and the game has evolved over a long period of time.

“So while Test cricket is traditional, the 50-over came about because it had appeal and now T20 is a totally different format, it will appeal to some people and others will dislike it,” he added. “But I think the key point is the three games need to co-exist, they need to live together.”

He admitted that he will not want to see T20 cricket take over the mantle as the top cricketing format globally.

He continued, “I was a pace-setter for five years, and people had to chase me. For someone like Kapil, who I respect greatly, I admired his success to go on to be number one. Since that time, people have gone on to 500, 600, 700 and now (Muttiah) Muralitharan has 800, quite phenomenal.

“I know what it takes for these players to get to that stage, with the fitness and longevity in the game, the skill factor and these sort of things. So I really appreciate and respect what they’ve done. So I had my time and then you let go, then you let others take over that mantle.”