It has become clear that Test cricket is not a priority for Cricket South Africa, and as the global landscape of the sport undergoes a shift, the Proteas might find themselves playing little to no matches in the ultimate format.
This year has seen the Proteas play just four Tests, with their New Year’s Test against Australia only separated from their Boxing Day clash against India by Two Tests against the West Indies.
With coach Shukri Conrad revealing that Dean Elgar’s retirement was motivated, in part by a lack of Test cricket and a poor outlook for the future of the format in South Africa.
CSA are not interested in arranging too many series outside of the required World Test Championship engagements, but they are doing the team no favours with this approach.
Part of this approach is pragmatic, as their TV partners have little interest in stumping up extra cash for additional series that won’t draw large audiences.
CSA’s preference has clearly been for series against the game’s established powers and teams with their own lucrative TV deals that the South African board can get a slice of.
As a result, the Proteas endured a long off-season, even longer for the red-ball players who feel like they have been out of the public eye for an age.
Globally, the trend is towards playing less Test cricket, with some arguing this preserves the prestige of the format. However, without an Ashes series to fall back on, South Africa might find that this trend sees them and other nations pushed aside in Test cricket.
South Africa’s chances of doing well in the World Test championship are hampered by the way their schedule is set up, and the game’s red-ball specialists could start dying out more and more.
Without a significant shift in attitude from the administrator, South Africa’s place in Test cricket will remain in question.
