Former Australian men's cricket team captain Steve Waugh is not a happy man. The 1999 World Cup winner on Monday was left fuming after Cricket South Africa (CSA) named a second-string Test squad for the tour to New Zealand that included a new skipper. (More Cricket News)
Waugh termed the act as 'disrespectful' and has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) and other cricket boards including the BCCI to step in and save the longer format.
Many top players from the Proteas squad who are contracted with the SA20, the nation's very own T20 league, will be unavailable for the Test matches as the schedule of the tourney clashes with that of the NZ tour.
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As per the CSA rules, players who are contracted with the SA20 franchises, won't be eligible for Test selection and that is the reason why the board named a second-string squad.
"Obviously, they don't care. It's going to happen if the South African cricket board are any indication of the future, keeping their best players at home," Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald. "If I was New Zealand, I wouldn't even play the series. I don't know why they're even playing. Why would you when it shows a lack of respect for New Zealand cricket?"
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The Aussie batting icon took to Instagram to raise this matter as he wondered the legacy left by the greats Sir Don Bradman and WG Grace could soon become irrelevant.
"Is this a defining moment in the death of Test cricket? Surely the ICC along (with) the cricket boards of India, England and Australia must step in to protect the purest form of the game. History and tradition must count for something. If we stand by and allow profits to be the defining criteria, the legacy of (Sir Don) Bradman, (WG) Grace and (Sir Garfield) Sobers will be irrelevant," he wrote.
Waugh said that the ICC or the top boards across the globe should put a regulation fee for Test cricket so that cricketers fall for the incentive.
"If the ICC or someone doesn't step in shortly then Test cricket doesn't become Test cricket because you're not testing yourself against the best players. I understand why players don't come. They're not getting paid properly. I don't understand why ICC or the top countries, who are making a lot of money, don't just have a regulation set fee for Test matches which is a premium, so people are incentivised to play Test cricket. Otherwise, they just play T10 or T20. The public are the ones who are going to suffers because it's not the full side playing, so it's not Test cricket," he added.
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Waugh highlighted that it's not just the Proteas but even the West Indies and the Pakistanis did not send their full strength teams Down Under.
"It's pretty obvious what the problem is. The West Indies aren't sending their full-strength side (to Australia this summer). They haven't picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now. Someone like Nicholas Pooran is really a Test batsman who doesn't play Test cricket. Jason Holder, probably their best player, is not playing now. Even Pakistan didn't send a full side (to Australia)," he said.
