Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. So says Wikipedia, Google’s free encyclopedia – the site which we have grown so close to during the recent past.

Further, describing this cricket’s base organization Wikipedia says - “It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St. John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world. Most of its global functions were passed on to the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1993 and its English governance was passed to the England and Wales Cricket Board at the same time.” MCC revised and reissued the Laws of Cricket in 1788, and remains the copyright holder to date.

The proposed “Pink ball” for future day-night Test cricket

Adding to its age old dedicated service to cricket, the MCC formed its World Cricket Committee approximately two years ago with a view to enhance the quality of cricket, especially the Test format.

Describing the crusade of the MCC World Cricket Committee it says - The position of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee is one of absolute independence; indeed we lay claim to being the only true voice in world cricket, free from considerations of politics, money and race. Every decision we make is solely in the interest of cricketers and cricket.The MCC-WCC comprises a galaxy of present and former cricketers which ranges from Rahul Dravid to Steve Waugh to Courteny Walsh to Martin Crowe. In this forum Sri Lanka is represented by stalwart Michael Tissera an authority of the Sri Lankan version of cricket in his own rights.

The Sunday Times Musings sought the audience of this great contributor to the game to share his thoughts and that of the WCC on Test cricket and what their modus operandi is to make the game more attractive to the fan. The topic for discussion was the WCC’s move to promote a Test Championship among the major test playing nations in a bid to sap the flagging fortunes of this version of the game.
Tissera described that the main concern of the WCC was the entry of the T20 version getting into the game and the attention that it has taken off the main arm of the game which is Test cricket. “There are certain quarters that believe there will be less interest in Test matches. So much so that even some players themselves have arrived at the conclusion: that the two T20 tournaments for a year would be sufficient to sustain them, rather than take the slog of Test cricket.” He also pointed out that in a written Test given to cricketers, most cricketers in New Zealand and in the West Indies had indicated that given the choice they would rather opt for the T20 version than Test cricket.

Legendary Michael Tissera is concerned about the future of Test cricket. Pic by Saman Kariyawasam

In the same vein Tissera also believes that Test cricket is not a lost cause in all quarters. For instance he showed that in both England and Australia still there was a healthy attendance at Test matches but in countries like Sri Lankan it is more of an economical issue where you cannot afford to take your family for five days for a Test match. But, he points out in Sri Lanka people are interested in Test cricket and at every given opportunity they indulge in it - even watching the proceedings at the street corner off a TV in a shop’s showcase. But, there are places where attendance has dropped. Tissera elaborated : “At the last meeting of the WCC, former England opener and renowned TV commentator Geoff Boycott lamented when Australia took on South Africa in South Africa in their last tie, with two of the best teams in world cricket taking on each other there were no full houses”. Then he added: “The concern is there so they are looking at ways to jak-up Test cricket”.

The T20 wizard Lalit Modi of India was in London for the last WCC meeting in July according to Tissera. He said Modi was there to explain about the marketing aspects of IPL in South Africa, where India had barely three weeks to prepare. Modi had given them some startling facts. Modi had explained that in spite of the IPL being moved to South Africa, there was an average attendance of 93% and around 70% of the congregation were watching cricket for the first time. At that meeting the message that Modi conveyed to the WCC was that cricket was not marketed properly and laid emphasis on Test cricket.

This had hit the WCC think tank hard. They were soon on a mission of seeking ways of propping up the fortunes of Test Cricket and how to make it more appealing to the public. One of the initial suggestions that came through was to play Test cricket day-night. Tissera added: “After a lot of investigations they came up with this Pink ball. This was tested by WCC members Shaun Pollock and Stephen Waugh under their own conditions and came out with a plus mark. They had come to the conclusion that the Pink balls lasts longer than its white or red counterparts in day-night cricket and still the game could be played wearing white. They were hoping to Test this out next summer when Bangladesh visits them, but somehow this seems to have been shelved”. But, at the same time Tissera also agreed that day-night Test cricket played in countries where the dew factor is a serious problem may be a hamper to the progress of that idea.

“The other idea to infuse more interest into Test cricket is the World Test Championship,” says Tissera. However the main concern here is that all Test playing countries are busy with the Future Tours Programme (FTP) and other allied commitments. “So if the authorities could have a tournament within the FTP it would be good.”

When asked about the Australian mooted move of the ‘Big Four’- Australia, England, South Africa and India - ganging up to play in a different league, Tissera said: “I do not think the day would come that everybody does not play everybody. I do not think it is going to be the top four and the bottom five. I am surprised that Tim May has even suggested that as he is a FICA representative which is affiliated to almost all Test playing nations. At the moment Sri Lanka is number two in the Test rankings and on what basis are they going to do this?”

Tissera explained further that there was another suggestion down the pipeline, “Each Test match has points, with four points for win, two points for a draw and no points for a loss. We will be adding up the points over a given period of time, irrespective of which side you are playing and where you are playing. For instance it would not matter if Sri Lanka is playing Bangladesh at home or in Bangladesh. Then we will take an average of those points and arrive at some conclusion and maybe play a final between one and two spots. This is the best solutions that I can think of,” Tissera said in conclusion.