"With the rise of Twenty20, will teenagers have time to 'devote to cricket'?"

Representational PicIn this ultramodern age counter attractions have multiplied many times since my youthful days wrote a former England batsman as he questioned whether teenagers had the time to devote to cricket That the exinternational was Herbert Sutcliffe and he was writing in a pamphlet following Englands defeat in the 195051 Ashes series shows that worrying about the future of cricket and English cricket in particular is nothing newBut whereas Sutcliffe was concerned by iceskating and greyhound racing taking people away from cricket the worry now is about how one type of cricket Twenty20 franchise leagues could spell the end of another in fiveday Tests The recent decisions of England internationals Adil Rashid and Alex Hales to sign whiteball only county contracts a red ball is used in traditional firstclass matches this season thereby opting out of Test contention heightened these concernsRashid and Hales have not played a Test since 2016 but the worry for some is that without a major alteration to crickets congested schedule and a change in spectator habits Tests outside of England and Australia often draw paltry crowds their example may be followed by that of more highprofile cricketers Jonny Bairstow a Yorkshire and England teammate of Rashid is alive to the danger although the wicketkeeper remains committed to continuing his Test careerHeck of a lot of moneyIf were not careful there are going to be more and more people giving up redball cricket Bairstow currently on tour with England in New Zealand said Youve got lucrative tournaments to go off for five weeks and earn a heck of a lot of money with the strain and stress on the body of bowling only fours overs compared to 24 in a day in Test cricket Bairstows thoughts were echoed by Test colleague James Anderson with Englands alltime leading Test bowler addingI just hope and pray there is enough love for Test cricket out there not just the players that are playing at the moment but players coming through still having the ambition and drive to play Test cricket in the future Bairstow and Anderson grew up in an environment where the most reliable way for cricketers to maximise their income was to become an established Test player as this would lead to a larger wage packet and enhanced opportunities for sponsorship deals In order to gain Test selection players would have to take part in domestic firstclass competitions such as Englands County Championship or Australias Sheffield ShieldBut the advent of the Indian Premier League and other franchise Twenty20 events has created an environment where its now possible to make major money in cricket terms without playing Tests For example England allrounder Ben Stokes was bought for Acircpound137 million 188 million 153 million euros by the Rajasthan Royals during Januarys IPL auctionDont get better doing lessAnd by offering specialist whiteball as well as Test central contracts in a bid to improve Englands woeful record at major global limitedovers tournaments the England and Wales Cricket Board may have inadvertently made it easier for players to turn their backs on the firstclass game You always want your best players playing as much highquality cricket as you can Angus Fraser an England selector told AFP on FridayI dont know how you become better at anything by doing less of it the former England fastmedium bowler added Fewer Championship matches are now played at the height of an English summer so spinners often critical to Test success in the subcontinent lose out on the chance to bowl in helpful conditions Fraser while acknowledging the problem saidThe reasons involved are sound Twenty20 brings in a lot of income for the game and you want to get families involved by having those matches on during the schoolholiday period Elite rugby union and rugby sevens are now effectively two separate sports such are their differing demands with a similar split possible in cricket Its in danger of doing that Pete Russell the chief operating officer of the Twenty20 Hero Caribbean Premier League told AFP at this weeks player draft in LondonWe are one of eight T20 tournaments around the world now and these guys have a lot of opportunities to make good money elsewhere Moreover his colleague Damien ODonohoe the CPLs chief executive said there was a broader problem confronting all cricket and indeed sport in general In relation to the fans their attention span is so short even for us trying to get people to watch a threehour game is a big challenge hence why weve been working so closely with the likes of Facebook and Twitter he said I think sport across the board has an issue with that peoples attention is much shorterCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go