Real cricket is Test cricket, opines Richard Hadlee

Sir Richard Hadlee, the New Zealand legends things that Test cricket needs to be taken care of. A big supporter of the longer format of the game believes for the sake of the shortest format Test cricket should survive.

Why is Test cricket important?

According to the Kiwi legend to preserve all three formats of cricket can co-exist but for the same Test cricket needs be preserved. In a recent interview, Hadlee said, “Test cricket must be preserved. It’s the foundation on which the game is based. So we must look after the five-day game.” He further added, “Certainly with emergence of T20 cricket which is a revolution in the game, all three formats need to live together. They can co-exist but I hate to see that T20 cricket will dominate world cricket.”

The 68-year-old pacer explained why T20 cricket is not real cricket. According to him, “Probably too much T20 cricket is played around the world. But I hope that the game doesn’t try to just survive through T20 cricket because T20 cricket is not real cricket. Real cricket is Test cricket.”

He further shared his insight about how T20 cricket can exhaust a player and lead to premature retirement. “At 34 or 35, you probably end your career as quick bowler but you can have three or four years left in T20 cricket because if you play Test cricket, you can burn out, get injured and be less effective. People will retire prematurely to pursue where the money is. That’s not a criticism at all but a sign of times and way the game has gone. I was 39 when I retired and it was Test cricket. That’s it.”

T20 produces more skilful players

The veteran, however, felt that the shortest format of the game produced more skilful players although they are not great cricketers. “I am not saying they are better players but they are certainly more skilful. Because of different formats that they play, they have to adapt to different situations particularly in T20 which is a high risk game anyway with all the trick shots that they play.”

He went on to praise the contemporary bowlers who have at least five variations thanks to the shortest format they play. “The T20 generation bowlers today have at least five variations. They bowl different deliveries like knuckle ball, back of the hand slower one. Back in my time, I only had two variations (inswinger and outswinger). That’s all I needed.”

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Sir Richard Hadlee, the New Zealand legends things that Test cricket needs to be taken care of. A big supporter of the longer format of the game believes for the sake of the shortest format Test cricket should survive.

Why is Test cricket important?

According to the Kiwi legend to preserve all three formats of cricket can co-exist but for the same Test cricket needs be preserved. In a recent interview, Hadlee said, “Test cricket must be preserved. It’s the foundation on which the game is based. So we must look after the five-day game.” He further added, “Certainly with emergence of T20 cricket which is a revolution in the game, all three formats need to live together. They can co-exist but I hate to see that T20 cricket will dominate world cricket.” The 68-year-old pacer explained why T20 cricket is not real cricket. According to him, “Probably too much T20 cricket is played around the world. But I hope that the game doesn’t try to just survive through T20 cricket because T20 cricket is not real cricket. Real cricket is Test cricket.” He further shared his insight about how T20 cricket can exhaust a player and lead to premature retirement. “At 34 or 35, you probably end your career as quick bowler but you can have three or four years left in T20 cricket because if you play Test cricket, you can burn out, get injured and be less effective. People will retire prematurely to pursue where the money is. That’s not a criticism at all but a sign of times and way the game has gone. I was 39 when I retired and it was Test cricket. That’s it.”

T20 produces more skilful players

The veteran, however, felt that the shortest format of the game produced more skilful players although they are not great cricketers. “I am not saying they are better players but they are certainly more skilful. Because of different formats that they play, they have to adapt to different situations particularly in T20 which is a high risk game anyway with all the trick shots that they play.” He went on to praise the contemporary bowlers who have at least five variations thanks to the shortest format they play. “The T20 generation bowlers today have at least five variations. They bowl different deliveries like knuckle ball, back of the hand slower one. Back in my time, I only had two variations (inswinger and outswinger). That’s all I needed.” Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram