And so it begins, again: the existential fears for Test cricket so beloved of its fans. The West Indies’ desultory performance at Edgbaston, losing 19 wickets in a single day, combined with Sri Lanka being eviscerated 3-0 by India at home, has provoked a new bout of angst about the state of the Test game.
In a format so small - only 10 nations have ever played, though that will soon increase to 12 when Afghanistan and Ireland play their first Tests - Test cricket cannot afford to lose teams. This century, it has effectively lost both Zimbabwe - who once beat Pakistan and India in consecutive Test series - and the West Indies, who have won 16 and lost 89 of their 146 matches against other top eight teams since June 2000, as competitive sides.
The West Indies’ complicity in their own downfall - the endless petty politicking, the stubbornness, the squabbling between islands - is well-known. Yet England should not feel entitled to any sanctimony. The West Indies are also the victims of a broken structure in international cricket - one that England, the second wealthiest cricket nation, did a great deal to build.
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