Nieter Joe Root and Harry Brooke have been playing first-class cricket since February. Photo: Getty Images/Gareth Copley
The first day of a summer English exam is a familiar convenience. As the fans descend from St. John's Wood station through the expectant hum, they are also connected to the game's past, retracing the same steps fans took after the first Test at Lord's in 1884. Somehow this walk to test match remained immune to the quicksands of the sport.
As Stuart Broad added to his tally on the Lord's and England openings roaming in the late afternoon sunlight, in many ways the event itself seemed untouched by all that had changed. However, in reality, Lord's Test has rarely felt more overshadowed by the wider forces in the game.
Three days before 25,000 is a healthy crowd, although it it was not a full house — came to watch the opening day at Lord's, 120,000 people gathered at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad for the final of the Indian Premier League. If this comparison may seem banal, then for English cricket it is becoming more and more inevitable. The hidden hand of the IPL could be discovered in many ways in Lord's.
For England, this hand explained why their middle order of Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes came to Lord, who hadn't played a first-class match since February; Root called IPL registration «an easy task» even though he only won once in the entire season. That hidden hand could also be seen in who Lord had and won't feature for the rest of the test summer is Jofra Archer, who returned home early from the IPL last month.
Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was packed to capacity ahead of the IPL final earlier this week. Photo: Getty Images/Pankaj Nangia
The impact of the IPL was even more evident in Ireland. While Zach Crowley and Ben Duckett moved in unison, Ireland was keen to pass the ball to a left-handed player capable of 90 mph. The problem was that Josh Little had played for the Gujarat Titans in the IPL final three days ago, which meant Ireland had lost their strongest bowler.
IPL Final or Lord's Challenge? Little didn't really have a choice at all. He happened to play a match that was watched by some 120 million unique viewers, several times more than this test match, and in doing so earned several times more than Cricket Ireland could afford to pay him.
England continues to be uniquely positioned to cater to the needs of Test cricket fans. Compared to other countries, England retains a higher proportion of fans who value the game through the currency administrators value most: the money they pay to watch and pay for TV subscriptions. These supporters remained loyal fans of the team even when English cricket was on the rise; now England is trying to revolutionize test play. The love of Test cricket, combined with England's diverse population, has also meant that next week's Test World Final, between Australia and India, is a sell-out.
And yet even here the influence of the wider forces of the world game becomes more and more inevitable. Premier League Cricket, which kicks off next month and plans to expand in the coming years, will provide additional financial support to the world's best players during the best summer months in England. Contracts with national leagues, which could soon be extended to 12-month contracts with the IPL, are changing the generally accepted balance of power in cricket, leaving national councils to ask franchises for permission to select players.
Perhaps the greatest fear of all is whether the opponents that England welcomes at the Lord's will remain convincing. When Australia or India comes to St. John's Wood, there are no such fears, but Test cricket cannot be supported by only three energetic countries. The new distribution of the International Cricket Council funds currently being discussed will surely increase the share of cash in India and the share of ICC cash that reaches most of the other test countries will decrease. Already, the allocation of funding means that a country with a history as proud of testing as South Africa only has to play two series of tests before 2026. four years; Ireland tested at home in 2018 but hasn't been able to afford another one since.
When Lord tests the Ashes later this month, such issues will seem distant. But as the IPL and the entire T20 ecosystem has become more powerful, admins will need to put more emphasis on Test cricket if they want fans to believe it remains the pinnacle that some — at least — still proclaim. Summer of ashes or not, but the remains of the Lord must conduct two trials in the summer. For fans to make the same journey from St John's Wood, England will need someone to play with.
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