‘Everyone doesn’t need to play Test cricket’: ICC told not to make countries ‘bankrupt’ by ‘forcing’ red-ball format

Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg has issued a stark warning about the financial sustainability of Test cricket, urging administrators to consider a leaner, more targeted schedule to protect the game’s oldest format. Speaking on the future of red-ball cricket, Greenberg emphasised that overloading the calendar could spell financial disaster for smaller cricketing nations already struggling to keep pace.

“Scarcity in Test cricket is our friend, not our foe,” Greenberg said, as quoted by BBC.

“I don’t think everyone in world cricket needs to aspire to play Test cricket, and that might be OK. We’re literally trying to send countries bankrupt if we force them to try to play Test cricket.”

His comments come as the International Cricket Council (ICC) explores structural reforms, including a possible two-tier Test system, aimed at creating more competitive and financially viable matchups.

Priorities big-ticket series

Greenberg argued that the sport’s most iconic contests, such as the Ashes and the series involving the big three – India, England, and Australia – should be prioritised and given greater investment to ensure they continue to thrive. With the 2025-26 Ashes series in Australia now just 100 days away, he pointed to its enduring appeal and profitability as an example of where resources should be concentrated.

While Greenberg acknowledged the high points of the recent England-India series, which he described as Test cricket at its finest, he contrasted it with one-sided encounters elsewhere.

Among Australia’s wins in the recently concluded series in the West Indies, the lowest margin was 133 runs, and New Zealand’s innings-and-359-run hammering of Zimbabwe, he argued, illustrated the competitive and commercial gaps that exist in the current Test landscape. These mismatches, he suggested, do little to attract fans or generate revenue, especially in markets where cricket struggles to compete with other entertainment options.

“We need to make sure we invest in the right spaces to play Test cricket where it means something and has jeopardy,” he said.

“That’s why the Ashes will be as enormous and profitable as it is — because it means something.”