‘The only way you can see Test cricket being saved is…’ – Jason Holder sheds light on saving red ball cricket

Former West Indies captain and bowling all-rounder Jason Holder recently talked about how the cricket board can save red ball cricket among the popularity of shorter formats. Holder discussed how players are prioritizing cricket league and franchise cricket over international cricket since they bring more money, and due to this popularity, the longer formats of Cricket are dying. 

Holder emphasized how the cricket boards need to compensate the players fairly for playing the longer formats so that it can once again boost the popularity of test cricket and make them available during that window. He also recalled how the West Indies cricket board gave him an opportunity for better performance in the T20 World Cup 2022. 

Jason Holder on how can Test cricket survive in the T20 era 

During an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, Jason Holder said, “Ideally, it’s not what you want in terms of international cricket… having a choice between franchise and international cricket. But particularly after the long negotiations with Cricket West Indies, this was my decision. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out where we could have had another avenue. From discussions with Cricket West Indies, it was pretty clear that I needed to be in Australia for the T20s, particularly it being a T20 World Cup year.”

“So, yeah. It’s just unfortunate, I guess. But it doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on Test cricket. That is still my favourite format, and I definitely will be available going forward. But for me, I just wanted to make sure that I’m giving myself the best chance to prepare myself for the T20 World Cup,” Holder added. 

He further said, “The only way you can honestly see Test cricket being saved is… if you have a window for Test cricket in a year so that you can have your best players available to play there. And on top of that, you need to compensate players fairly. It can’t be a situation where Australia and India are up there, and all the other teams are way, way down below. So, when you’ve got a situation — a dilemma — similar to mine, where you can play a Test series for X amount and a franchise for three times the amount, you will constantly have players going toward more money. If we could come up with a model where you can have a minimum wage where you can’t fall below a particular threshold, it would actually incentivise players to say, ‘Well, look, this is the benefit of me playing Test cricket’.