This is part of what he had to say.

FORMER Australian paceman Jason Gillespie believes Test cricket is on its last legs and has labelled Indian cricket chief Lalit Modi a menace to the game.

''Test cricket is in trouble, there is no doubt about that,'' Gillespie said after returning from the rebel Indian Cricket League.

''l can see a time where countries will be bypassing Test cricket altogether.

''With more Twenty20 leagues, it will go the way where representing your country will take a back seat. For Australian and English players it will always be the pinnacle, but I am not sure it is the pinnacle for any other countries. All other countries do not see Test cricket as the be all and end all anymore.''

Gillespie also slammed Cricket Australia, believing it does not have the courage to stand up to Modi is bullying, and wo not act to salvage the long-term future of the sport

YA wanted to put this in Pregnancy & Baby Names!

l agree with the former Australian paceman Jason Gillespie. Lalit Modi IMO is a senior member of a cricketing mafia that wishes complete hegemony on world cricket for their financial interests. The weak kneed approach of CA has not helped.


IPL is the baby. The threat stands named.

l have to partly agree with Jason if not fully.

The effects of 20-20 leagues such as ICL is already visible. Many countries have lost some of their most valuable players to ICL. NZ for one struggling without bond & same with Pakistan for Yousuf. It seems there r quite a few cricketers who r not overtly concerned with fame & would rather go for the money. The trend is more imminent among the up & coming cricketers. Afterall, who can blame the players? The money is on offers & they r going for the pot of the gold. So, it is hampering test cricket in a certain way.

Again, l have to partially disagree with him since l havent seen any sign of test cricket dying down at all. Maybe in India, the people r not showing up for tests but here & in England there is always a healthy crowd for tests. Our players r definitely more willing to wear the baggy green than play for ICL. So, l dont see Test cricket being bypassed in future. Its here to stay. All three formats can co-exist but the number of matches must be regulated & ICC is doing a good job limiting international 20-20 to 8 games per nation per year.

About CA not standing up to Modi, what can l say? l cant expect CA to bash up Modi. Modi is doing his dirty work in another part of the world & CA has no hand in that.

Finally, what is disconcerting is that there is a schedule in place for IPL in the calender year. ICC should realise that its a domestic tournament. International cricket comes first. So, why should ICC bother about chalking out a schhedule for a league like this, so that all teams can participate. These leagues r all money making business & damaging the great game.

I've heard it all before, about Test cricket being on it is last legs. If u think back to the late 1980's, India were hardly playing any Test matches, & as we went into the 1990's, they played an increasing number of ODI's. Going into the current century (or indeed millenium!) Test cricket enjoyed a bit of a renaissance, with more of it being played, & OD l cricket starting to become a little sidelined.

Throughout those times, Test cricket remained the high point for England & Australia, it was the sub-continental teams who had the preference for ODI's.

T20 is the new toy for the young fans of the Indian sub-continent. Fans flock to see it, whilst stadiums in India r empty for Tests. This though has long been the case. T20 has not killed off Test cricket in India, it was already a sideshow, one followed & revered, but not one that was actually seen.

Test cricket will continue. India will still continue to play it, but they may play less matches, & we will see a proliferation of T20 competitions. More ridiculous leagues will be set up to attract ''a newer, younger fanbase'' as the saying goes. The world is obsession with ''youth'' will continue. But that is the way it has always been (just realised l sound old before my time!)

Tes tcricket has not been the pinnacle for India, & the other sub-continental teams for a long time now.T20 has not changed that, it simply entrenches that position further.

As for Gillsepie is comments about CA not standing up to Modi & the BCCI: Tell us something we do not already know, Gillespie.

Yes, l have no problem with Mr. & Mrs. Gillespie naming their son Jason:).

l however do not agree with him. The buildup to any India-Pakistan or India-Australia Test series seems to be far more dramatic than the Ashes ever are. l do not think T20 will be allowed to take precedence over Test cricket. However, T20 leagues will always remain an option for those who lost their place in the Test squad, & need to make some big-bucks before retiring ( l am thinking Gillespie is a good example).

If a 100 years later, Test cricket does morph into something else, then, assuming l am still around to see it, it wo not surprise me at all. Cricket, like all sports, evolve over time & is likely to carry on evolving. 400 years ago it was little more than a schoolboys' game where the wicket was actually a gate to a field. It evolved into a men is game, but initially was more popular in its single-wicket form (two men taking on each other with both bat & ball). Eventually it evolved into a team game, played first by men from one village versus the next village is team, eventually leading to teams from parishes, then counties, which led to the establishment of first-class cricket. Of course, all this goes back to 1789, & in the time since, the All-England X l was formed, which first toured nationally & later internationally, eventually leading to the formation of teams in other British Dominions & colonies.

The format of first-class cricket itself changed, from mostly two or three day cricket & 4 day Test matches, as well as timeless Tests, to 4-day top-level domestic competition & 5-day Tests, once played over 6 days (with a rest day in between), to five straight days. Limited overs cricket began with 65-overs a side Gillette Cup in 1963, eventually reducing to 50 six-ball overs. Then arrived T20 cricket. l consider it to be just another step in the evolution of cricket & not something utterly alien. It is unlikely that in one stroke the designers of T20 will have wiped out Test cricket. Test cricket may well evolve on its own, & changes may be made to make it more audience friendly (e.g. night matches, colored clothing, shorter matches, e.g. 4-day matches, more frequent taking of the new ball & so on), however, this will have little to do with players playing private T20 leagues.

l just feel Jason Gillespie is bitter about losing his Test place & is venting off steam. There is no need to take his premonitions seriously.

yes because banning cricketers from international scene is wrong

Jason Gillespie should get off the drugs he is taking. Obviously it has made him anti-indian or anti-BCCI. The Australian Cricket Board is the main cause for all these troubles . They bullied the smaller cricketing nations previously and harrased teams regularly in Australia. They rigged systems to make them look bigger and smarter and are now having problems in delaing with India who is becoming a Super Power in cricket.

Jason needs to get a life . he has had his run .

Yep l agree with our former Fast Bowler too.With all these 20/20 tournaments going on it is taking all the good layers away from their country,it is making players choose money over the love of playing for their countries. l think he is so right when he calls Modi a menace,in-fact l think that is pretty tame for someone like Gillespie.

Merchant Modi is a marauder destroying Cricket. The money that went into the T20 & also into the pockets of cricketers is disproportionate to the entertainment value & has weaned away a great number of sports enthusiasts from test match cricket that was played so well by great players like Bradman & Wally Hammond & Gary Sobers. The gate collections were huge & the royalties were unprecedented. All this money & the girls & the glitz destroyed test match cricket.

Pakistan lost a great player Mohd. Yousuf & NZL lost Shane Bond to ICL & what great reasons do u ascribe ICL players being banned from regular cricket except that it is competing with IPL?

Shame on BCC l & IPL & ICC to ban ICL players from regular cricket. A stage may come when two friendly teams may not be able to play a friendly match because IPL has not approved it or made money out of it. Cricket has been destroyed by moneybag Lalit Modi.