By IANS,
Sydney : Ricky Ponting, a great supporter of traditional Test cricket, may not have converted to the latest Twenty20 version, but still feels that the five-day game is just not exiting anymore.
“I just think Test cricket is probably not as exciting anymore because of the wickets that we’re playing on,” Ponting was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“People would rather watch a game in Perth than they would in Antigua. There’s much more happening.”
Ponting opines that the cricket pitches over the world are taking away the excitement from Test cricket.
Australia are currently playing in the West Indies where they have had two dull Tests on placid surfaces in Jamaica and Antigua. Ponting feels it is very important to have bounce in the wicket to make it exciting.
“There’s more bouncers, more batsmen ducking and weaving and sometimes falling on their backsides, more catches behind the wicket, more hook shots. That’s the sort of Test cricket that we all grew up watching and enjoying,” he added.
He contends the surfaces all over the cricketing world are becoming “too flat and too placid”.
Ponting is also not too excited about the idea of the Test World Championship in a four-year cycle.
“You’re playing for a trophy every series you play,” Ponting said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at the end of two or three or four years, there are trophies on the line every series. We’ve got to look at other smaller ways.”