Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has called for an introduction of a minimum match fee in Test cricket. He made the suggestion following plenty of youngsters opting for T20 cricket instead of Tests.
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Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkarahas called for an introduction of a minimum match fee in Test cricket. According to the left-hand batsman, this would make the youngsters focus more on playing the longer format rather than concentrating on T20s.
“T20 is the ideal format to introduce — you talk about the Americas, with China,” Sangakkara was quoted as saying by news agency AFP on Wednesday.
Sangakkara did praise the shorter format but also suggested that T20 form brings a lot of negatives with itself. “Since its inception it’s been a huge pillar of strength for world cricket.But there are a few negatives … a lot of young players taking up T20 instead of playing international cricket. There are various things that have been discussed, about parity of pay, especially when it comes to match fees for Test cricket. Shouldn’t there be a blanket minimum pay for Test cricketers? The top countries are being paid a certain Test match fee — shouldn’t that be reflected all throughout the Test-playing countries?”
Moreover, the former left-hander added that representing the country in any format rather than playing for a T20 league is an “honour” for any player. “We need to understand what Test cricket means to players and what it is to fans,” he said.
“Relevance in sport is so important in terms of not just growing the sport but also sustaining it. I think international cricket is very strong still. For any player, I think the honour of representing their country be it in Test, one-dayers or T20 cricket, it’s still the pinnacle of the game,” he added.
“T20 is definitely the easiest format at my age to stay competitive in,” said Sangakkara, who retired from the first- class game in September.
