There’s a glut of riveting Test cricket going on around the world, the kind that warms most fans hearts. Joe Root has finally bagged his maiden hundred in Australia after a 12-year vigil – meaning Matthew Hayden no longer has to stroll around the MCG in nothing but his cowboy hat. The big man had vowed to walk naked in Melbourne if Root didn’t reach three figures this Ashes. Elsewhere, the West Indies are digging in to save a game against New Zealand, while Temba Bavuma’s South Africans have just handed India a 2-0 hiding in their own backyard.

Ordinarily, December is when cricket reporters hop from Wellington to Brisbane to Cape Town, chasing Tests like fielders patrolling the rope. Instead, this year we’re stuck at home, glued to the television, wondering why Sri Lanka are treating the longest format like a bouncer to the helmet — duck first, ask questions later.

The numbers make for grim reading. Sri Lanka have played just four Tests this year — one fewer than England and Australia will cram into seven frenetic weeks between November and December. And the plot thickens: the next Sri Lanka Test isn’t until June 2026. For specialists like Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal, that’s not a gap between series — that’s an ice age. What motivation can you muster when your next red-ball assignment is two monsoons away?

Consider this: Joe Root debuted a year after Chandimal. Root has strutted out 160 times in Test cricket; Chandimal, just 90. Same era, different calendars — and Sri Lanka’s one looks very disappointing.

The World Test Championship was supposed to be a level playing field, but smaller nations often get the short end of the stick. Unless Sri Lanka are up against England, three-match series have become as rare as hat-tricks in Test cricket. With two-match rubbers becoming the norm, it’s almost impossible for teams like Sri Lanka to rack up ten Tests a year. A conscious push is needed to keep the red-ball flame alive.

To their credit, Sri Lanka Cricket have tried to plug the gaps by scheduling Tests outside the WTC — Afghanistan last year, Ireland the year before. Useful, yes, but still not nearly enough to prevent the longer format from slipping through to oblivion.

Let’s be blunt: there’s not much money in Test cricket. Unless the opposition is India or England, hosting a Test barely breaks even. But sport isn’t merely a cash register with stumps — not every moment of entertainment needs to pay for itself.

There are solutions. Each WTC cycle gives nine teams six series — three home, three away. Add just one series against a non-WTC Test nation and the tally improves. Make it mandatory that at least two of those six series must feature a minimum of three Tests, and suddenly the calendar looks healthier.

We often hear about shifting player priorities, how franchise leagues offer life-changing fortunes. Fair enough — but administrators can’t simply shrug and hope loyalty will magically return. If the suits don’t stage regular Test cricket, the players can hardly be blamed for choosing the shortest queue to a payday.

Test cricket is the game’s heartbeat. Ignore it long enough and the sport risks flatlining.

by Rex Clementine ✍️