Australia legend and former fast-bowler Mitchell Johnson has expressed apprehensions about Cricket Australia (CA) CEO Todd Greenberg’s recent remarks regarding Test cricket’s future. Johnson said that Greenberg’s claim that not every country in the world needed to ‘aspire’ to play Test cricket and bear the losses that come with it lacked nuance and ‘already missed the point’ about building up the sport by promoting it in small nations.
Test cricket is the traditional form of the sport. But because it’s played over five days, it’s also the most expensive. As attention spans have decreased and stadiums don’t fill up to watch matches anymore, it’s under a crisis where boards with smaller coffers continue to suffer.
Several solutions have been fielded, but the biggest one, led by Johnson, is dividing it into two tiers, with the richest three India, England, and Australia in the first and the rest in the second. The first tier will play more among itself, with a promotion-relegation system between the two tiers also being discussed.
“Here’s the thing — if that’s the fear, then we’ve already missed the point,” Johnson wrote in his column for The West Australian. “The solution to saving Test cricket isn’t to scale it down to three or four rich countries. It’s to lift the rest up. Help them. Grow the game. Back them. This is where real leadership starts — not by pulling up the ladder, but by building a stronger base. Because let’s be clear: these nations want to play Test cricket. The players want it. The fans want it. So why are we making it so hard? I’ve been to countries where cricket isn’t backed by billion-dollar TV deals — but the passion is still there,” he added.
Johnson said that the Big Three should, instead of writing black pay cheques, support the smaller board with guidance and physical presence, and help them build the game from the grassroots and engage audiences. He said the format needed more participating countries, and not less, for it to grow.
“Because here’s the reality: if we only leave Test cricket to the wealthy, it dies a slow death,” Johnson said. “Fans see through that. Players lose hope. And one by one, countries quietly drift towards the formats that pay quicker and hurt less. West Indies cricket has been an example of this. But Test cricket is supposed to hurt. It’s supposed to demand more. That’s the beauty of it. You don’t earn a baggy green or a Test cap because you’ve bowled four overs, including a couple in the powerplay,” Johnson said.
“You earn it over years — through bruises, setbacks, second-innings spells in 40C heat when your body says no and your heart says yes. And that feeling isn’t exclusive to Australia or India or England. It lives in the soul of every young cricketer from all parts of the world. The only difference is opportunity,” he added.