One of the best cricket batters, Brian Lara, expressed that cricket needs to move on from the dominant influence of the “Big Three” (India, Australia, and England). Currently, West Indies is gearing up for a two-match Test series against Australia starting on January 17, and Lara is involved in the commentary and broadcasting team.
There’s been some controversy in South Africa as they announced a Test series squad against New Zealand, featuring seven uncapped players. This sparked discussion as some key players will be busy with the ILT20.
Sport as a whole is a very short-term thing, cricket you never know when you’re in or you’re out, and we just have to find some sort of middle ground where all cricket prospers – not just English cricket, Australian cricket or Indian cricket,” Lara said.
“You want your best team playing international cricket. South Africa will have their reasons but when I did look at the team there was not one name that I knew. It is a very compact schedule, trying to force all three forms of the game in.
The ex-batter emphasized that Test cricket must be preserved. To achieve this, everyone in the cricketing world should turn their attention to nations like Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa, and New Zealand, ensuring the survival of red-ball cricket.
As someone who has played Test cricket, the love I have for the game, it is something I don’t want to see die. I’m hoping that we can find a way outside that triangle of nations of India, Australia and England to bring back importance to West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa.”
“Back in those days, the halcyon days of West Indies cricket in the 1970s and ’80s, we were almost in Australia or England every other year, and we were the fancied team to tour around the world,” Lara said. “India is now, for obvious reasons.”
