Former England captain Nasser Hussain doing commentary on field during play. (Source: AP)
During the opening over of International T20 between World XI and West Indies at the iconic Lord’s on Thursday, former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain’s presence in first slip drew social media ire for not taking the game seriously.
The exhibition match was held to raise funds for the refurbishment of five cricket stadia in the Carribean damaged by hurricanes. But the match, which was broadcast live on ICC’s Facebook account, highlighted why T20 matches should not be given international status as they are not taken seriously.
Many took to Twitter to comment on the absurdity after watching Hussain in the slips:
Don’t let your eyes deceive you, that is indeed @nassercricket in the slips ??#CricketRelief#LoveLords pic.twitter.com/o16VtVivA8
— Lord’s Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) 31 May 2018
Nasser Hussain, on commentary, at first slip for the opening over. This is why these games – wonderful as they are – should never have international status. #WIvRoW pic.twitter.com/T3caRzOEEA
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) 31 May 2018
This is a full international, but apparently the West Indies playing the Netherlands in the World Cup Qualifiers was not http://t.co/ATSoJ8832N
— Tim (@timwig) 31 May 2018
The background to Roving Nas is that Sky are distributing their feed for free, which is great of them. With it, they wanted to try something new. As for international status, it was given to ensure the game itself was taken seriously. To be fair, the first innings was. #WIvRoW
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) 31 May 2018
Commantror in the Field ??@ICC please explain is it International match or List A Game ???? @nassercricket #WIvsWorldXI #WorldXI pic.twitter.com/zIPrSK3pww
— Ejaz Wasim Bakhri (@ejazwasim) 31 May 2018
Even former South African skipper Graeme Smith has raised concerns of the future of Test cricket and said that for the betterment of the game, T20 cricket should be limited to domestic leagues. “I am a big believer that T20 cricket shouldn’t be played at international level. Maybe have a World Cup every couple of years but it should be largely a domestic-based format.”
“Test cricket needs some context, how they get there I don’t know. They need to invest in marketing that game a little bit better. So much money nowadays go into marketing the T20 game and rightly so because it’s an amazing concept,” he added.
Giving insights on how cricket’s governing body can improve the popularity of Tests, Smith said, “The ICC needs to sit down and work on a way forward for cricket. Maybe there should be six months a year that’s just domestic T20 cricket and six months is international cricket. These things need to be debated because I don’t think in the current system everything can survive.”
Even West Indian great Michael Holding and former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly have expressed similar views on T20 cricket. “Test cricket is cricket. Simple. Twenty20 is entertainment. Fine, we all need entertainment in our lives. But the problem is Twenty20 is taking over,” Holding had been quoted by Telegraph as saying.
Ganguly had said, “Ultimately you will be remembered for what you do in Test crikeet. T-20 is fun, it brings people to the ground, you can see Shah Rukh Khan dancing on the stands.”