Craig O’Donoghue: It’s time for Test cricket to realise that teams batting for days is hurting the sport

Of all the threats that exist for Test cricket in the generation of snackable sport, the one-sided nature of matches, and desire for teams to bat for days simply must be addressed.

Test cricket is supposed to be a five-day contest with a genuine battle between bat and ball. That’s what sets it apart from one day cricket and T20s.

Which means watching Australia amass more than 500 runs in three of the four Tests they’ve played this summer, and three men scoring double centuries, has been far from compelling viewing. There’s been little doubt about the result from early in the Tests.

And that’s the problem with Test cricket around the world - the result is obvious too soon. The average lead after both teams have batted once throughout 2022 was 147 runs.

Of the 43 Tests played this calendar year, there were nine where the first innings lead was more than 250 runs. Only one team was ever going to win those games.

We’ve also seen 11 Tests won by either an innings or 10 wickets, two where the winning team chased less than 40 for victory in the fourth innings, and another seven where the team batting last was set more than 400 to win and had no chance of victory.

So that’s 20 of 43 Tests that were hopelessly one-sided.

Fourteen teams scored more than 500 runs during their first innings. That’s more than in 2021 and 2020 combined.

Teams take the attitude the best course to victory is to keep the opposition out in the field for as long as possible, hoping the combination of sun, standing and bowling will leave them physically and mentally exhausted when it’s finally time to bat.

Those figures include this week’s Test between Pakistan and New Zealand. The Kiwis batted second, spent 194.5 overs in the middle before declaring on 9-612 at tea on day four. That followed Pakistan scoring 438. It was a batting-fest.

It’s easy to see why these tactics are prevalent. There’s no respite under the blazing sun in the field. If you dash off the field for more than eight minutes, you’re barred from bowling until the amount of time you were absent has elapsed.

It’s different for batters. When David Warner’s body cramped due to exhaustion after scoring 200 runs, instead of having to stay out there and risk losing his wicket, he was allowed to retire hurt, have a much needed shower to cool down, spend the night recovering and then return to the crease when he felt good.

Runs aren’t the be-all and end-all. The most exciting Test of the Australian summer came in Brisbane when 34 wickets fell across two days on a green menace. It was carnage. You couldn’t turn away from the TV.

That was an extreme example and we don’t want two day Tests. But nothing sets a stadium alight more than a bowler on a rampage.

Scott Boland’s 6-7, Mitch Johnson steaming in with his moustache bristling and scaring the hell out of everyone just as Merv Hughes and DK Lillee had done before him, or Warnie spinning the ball at right angles had the crowd buzzing.

And while a thrilling draw is fun as fielders huddle around the bat in fading light while their opponents desperately try to hold on, a Test where either team can win on day five is what we truly need.

Players tell us that Test cricket is the pinnacle. The overall product needs to match their passion.

There have been 129 Tests since Ben Stokes put England on his back and scored a pulsating century to produce an epic Ashes win by just one wicket at Headingley in 2019. The total number of first innings runs scored by both teams during that Test was just 246.

Since then, only two Tests have been won by less than 50 runs. One of those occurred in Pakistan just weeks ago when England won by 26 runs. The first innings scores were 281 and 202. Low scores produce that most memorable contests.

The famous fourth Test at Adelaide which saw West Indies beat Australia by one run in 1993 didn’t have any players scoring centuries. Neither did the epic second Ashes Test in 2005 when England won by two runs. Luck really has deserted the Aussies in some of the game’s most revered occasions.

Sports fans crave contests yet all forms of cricket are heavily slanted towards batters.

The most exciting Test of the Australian summer came in Brisbane when 34 wickets fell across two days. It was carnage. You couldn’t turn away from the TV because it felt like mayhem was going to occur at any point.

That was an extreme example and we don’t want two day tests or a pitch which started to cause safety concerns. But it gave the bowlers a chance. The pitch needed to be tinkered with instead of torn up and replaced with a road.

Wickets change momentum and sport needs those dramatic swings. In the 2022 AFL finals series, four of the nine games saw a team trailing at half-time fight back to win. The 2021 grand final is famous for Melbourne turning a 19-point deficit into a 24-point lead during 16 extraordinary minutes.

In the recent World Cup soccer final, France trailed 2-0 after 790 minutes and forced the game to extra time.

Test cricket needs more of that. We need a stronger balance between bat and ball, along with significantly better depth around the Test-playing nations.

Players tell us that Test cricket is the pinnacle. The overall product needs to match their passion. It needs to be competitive. It needs to have variety. It needs to be something all cricket fans feel they can’t afford to miss.