Former cricketer Ian Chappell has blamed the slow pace of play for making the Test cricket unbearably slow and lackluster. Chappell also bashed the administrators for their lack of initiative to try and fix the issue that has been slowly but surely killing the purest form of the game.
The cricketer-turned-commentator provided an in-depth analysis of the state of Test cricket and what is plaguing it the most in his column with ESPNcrChicinfo.
In his piece, Chappell praised current English Test skipper Ben Stokes for trying to bring some entertainment into Test cricket but blamed the administrators for their lack of vision.
Ian Chappell goes after drinks breaks, DRS, glove changes, and the minimum overs rule in Test cricket
He highlighted several flaws in the rules that make play slow and arduous to watch for the viewers. He argued that why are the drinks breaks being taken outside of the allotted times with Test not being as taxing as fast-paced white ball cricket? Chappell also questioned frequent glove changes that disrupt that play ever so often.
Ian Chappell further questioned the increasing number of DRS (decision review systems) given to teams. A couple of years ago, only two reviews per inning were allowed for each team.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number was increased to three due to a lack of international umpires in matches. While the pandemic is long gone, the number of reviews hasn’t reverted to the original number of two.
At last, Ian Chappell went after the minimum overs rule, which states a team has to bowl 90 overs a day or they’ll be docked points and money. He stated that six hours of cricket is ample for players, fans, viewers, and administrators. To go over that mark would be pushing the fans to their limits and making the game boring.