South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada believes the onus lies on countries outside the big three nations to play good Test cricket in order to keep the format going and gain a good following from a large fanbase.
“It’s up to us as well to boost the game. You look at the big three, Australia, England and India and they just have the most money to be quite frank. However, if you want those nations playing against you, then you need to be playing good cricket. You need to be challenging for that ICC mace or World Test Championship (WTC).”
“That’s one of the ways in which you have control to set an equilibrium amongst teams. That’s one thing that the unions can control: to play good cricket. Cricket is about giving entertainment. Sport is about giving entertainment to the fans. And with cricket being the second-most popular sport in the world, after football, based on the numbers in the subcontinent, it’s very certain that cricket is providing entertainment for the fans.”
“And for the fans to get good entertainment, the cricket has to be good. I just feel as if when good cricket is played, then the best teams want to play against those teams. It’s up to us to play good Test cricket. And if you play good Test cricket, then you start to get a good following,” said Rabada to ESPNCricinfo.
He also cited the example of West Indies’ securing a sensational eight-run win over Australia at Brisbane in January this year reigniting the fan base for Test cricket. “We saw when West Indies went and beat Australia, that brought a spark back to West Indies Test cricket. And more of that just needs to happen.”
“The celebrations after Shamar Joseph bowled the way that he did – people were crying, people were very emotional. A picture tells a story of a thousand words. So all you have to do is look at those scenes and it’ll tell you.”
South Africa will now play two Tests against West Indies in August, and Rabada needs nine more wickets to become the sixth South African to take 300 wickets in the longer format. But the fast bowler said he was not trying to think about reaching the landmark.
“It will be such a special landmark but I’m not focused on that. It will just be a byproduct. I’m just focused on making sure that I’m there for the team and that I find a way to put in a performance. Putting in a performance ultimately means that the team is moving in the right direction and that I’m doing my part.”
“The Caribbean is my favourite place to tour. I love coming here. There’s a lot of history and cricket and cricketing history here. It will be sad if there are only six (Test) teams and it would be sad to not see West Indies cricket in and amongst the top teams as they used to be because they used to dominate world cricket,” he concluded.