No Cape Town New Year's Test

Cape Town without a New Year's test is a bit like Christmas in England without a turkey. As most us enjoyed the best part of a week feasting on the latter or reached a stage two days after Christmas of having had enough turkey sandwiches for a year, the same can't be said about the cricket loving public, not only in South Africa but around the world.

How is it possible that the best supported test match of the year in SA get scrapped off the calendar like leftover breadcrumbs? How can the ICC allow it? South Africa was meant to host India in the 3rd Test, but the series was shortened to two tests only due to India's request. 

As mentioned in my previous blog, attendances aren't great during the longer version of the game in SA, but not only does the New Year Test attract huge crowds at Newlands, it's also a long standing tradition.

Why should the ICC allow this? Is it helping the survival of Test Cricket? Would any other country have gotten away with it or does the Indian Cricket Board control the ICC. It does make you wonder since they also have a say in refusing to accept DRS to be used when they're playing. Again, the ICC allows them to have the final say!

How can the ICC have one set of rules for 9 test playing nations, and another set when the 10th member is involved? No surprise then that some question whether ICC actually still stands for International Cricket Council or something else.

Take nothing away from Indian Cricket. They're blessed with highly talented players, both present and past, have enjoyed great success on the field, became no.1 in the world in the short and longer format of the game, crowned world champions and brought us the IPL! But other countries including Australia, South Africa, England and the West Indies have all enjoyed spells of dominance through the years.

It remains a great shame that a tour so closely contested between the two best sides in the world should not be over 3 tests or even more. Who knows, if it was, maybe SA would have had a world record test run chase behind their names today.