Aus vs Pak – Pat Cummins – ‘Test cricket’s decline not as dramatic as it sometimes gets spoken about’

“My hopes are that it’s even stronger than it is now, in ten years’ time or 20 years’ time,” Cummins told reporters ahead of Australia’s third Test against Pakistan in Sydney. “I think in some regards leading to this Test summer, some of the question marks were against Pakistan and West Indies. We’ve had two fantastic Test matches against Pakistan, really well supported, big crowds.

“So I don’t think it’s in as dramatic a decline as sometimes it gets spoken about. But I think there is an issue just with the amount of other cricket out there, obviously competition for talent is higher than it’s ever been.”

Cummins hoped that South Africa’s decision to send a second-string squad to New Zealand was just a one-off occurrence.

“I grew up absolutely loving Test cricket,” he said. “I think it does go through phases. I know the South African team aren’t sending their strongest side [to New Zealand]. I’m hoping it’s a phase.”

While T20 is seen as the most popular format with the masses, the Australian grounds still have generous numbers coming in to watch Test cricket. The Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan last week had over 100,000 people watching just the first two days. But that’s not always the case elsewhere in the world, and it has Cummins just a tad worried.

“As a Test cricket lover, I wish everybody was watching Test cricket, but I’ve never seen cricket stronger than what it is at the moment”

Pat Cummins

“Every summer feels bigger than the last here in Australia, but obviously going overseas, that’s not the case,” Cummins said. “In some regards, I am a little bit worried at times, but at the same time, T20 cricket has never had more supporters and I don’t think there have been more supporters in the world watching cricket.

“As a Test cricket lover, I wish everybody was watching Test cricket, but I’ve never seen cricket stronger than what it is at the moment.”

Will universal match fees for Test matches do the trick to attract more players to play the longer version of the game? Cummins doesn’t hold a strong view on that but is hoping for a “silver bullet” that could potentially help Test cricket regain its popularity.

“Ideally we find a way to make it work where we’ve got 15 or 20 Test-playing nations who are all really strong,” Cummins said. “I understand there are lots of different challenges, so I feel really privileged that in Australia it’s a priority and it’s really well-supported every time we play. I don’t know what the silver bullet is, but it’d be great if there was one.”