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No Test Cricket in July

Test tours have been shrinking progressively all my life. Even as a child, I had to listen to the likes of Fred Truman on TMS lamenting that they didn’t rock up at the beginning of May and stay around for the Scarborough festival in mid September anymore. But at least they still played most of the counties, and probably Scotland or Ireland and the universities, had a fortnight or more between each test match and played a few ODIs.

What was the 2013 Ashes tour? There were only five first class matches. The tests. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I vaguely recall there might have been a 13 a side beer match against some combined team from two counties. But I might have invented that.

The point is, it’s not just England. Nobody does multiformat tours anymore. Nobody does proper buildup matches anymore. Nobody does proper tours of any sort anymore. And the trend was there long before franchise cricket. It started in the 60s. It accelerated after Packer. At most, franchise cricket has just delivered the death blow.
 
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Love Test cricket me. Couldn't give a toss about other versions. Understand the rounders and baseball versions pull in the coin. Shame.
 
Fleagle said:
Test tours have been shrinking progressively all my life. Even as a child, I had to listen to the likes of Fred Truman on TMS lamenting that they didn’t rock up at the beginning of May and stay around for the Scarborough festival in mid September anymore. But at least they still played most of the counties, and probably Scotland or Ireland and the universities, had a fortnight or more between each test match and played a few ODIs.

What was the 2013 Ashes tour? There were only five first class matches. The tests. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I vaguely recall there might have been a 13 a side beer match against some combined team from two counties. But I might have invented that.

The point is, it’s not just England. Nobody does multiformat tours anymore. Nobody does proper buildup matches anymore. Nobody does proper tours of any sort anymore. And the trend was there long before franchise cricket. It started in the 60s. It accelerated after Packer. At most, franchise cricket has just delivered the death blow.
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Pre The Hundred i.e.2018 multi format tours to England were the norm e.g Pakistan 2018 and S Africa 2017 and similar before-certainly in England. Tours are shorter admittedly and county warm ups a rarity -can't remember Durham playing a tourist since their very early 1st class days.
The thread discussion,however, is no test cricket in mid-summer -that omission came about solely to accommodate and prioritise the Hundred.
Your meander through historical tour practise is interesting but has little relevance to the thread turke.
Title not turke
 
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MONTYMCPHAIL said:
How long before test cricket becomes a thing of the past....
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County Championship almost is ... and as for one-day cricket, or whatever names are conjured up to describe it such as The Hundred or Twenty, I have zero interest. Nothing compared witb the Gillette Cup fof a season finale - despite the result being decided on the toss of a coin - just about. The B& H final was the equivalent of football's League Cup ...
 
NorthCountryBoy said:
I’m not disagreeing with the last bit.

Just saying that you’d struggle to span June to August regardless nowadays as the test teams want ‘in and out’ tours. If you said first class cricket it’s much harder to argue though!
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At least 2 countries touring is now the norm -certainly would cover the main summer.Mixture of test and white ball.
 
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NorthCountryBoy said:
But the three test series’ are done in four weeks max (usually three).

You won’t get tests spread as they used to be.
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There's a compromise on our disparaging views but neither alter the fact that the Hundred is given priority over International cricket in high summer.
Shorter tours or not,Test cricket would be staged in High summer.
 
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