Former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen aka KP has claimed that only a few Test cricketing nations will survive by the year 2026, and New Zealand, the reigning ICC Test Champions will not be one of them.
Star middle-order batsman, who is now a wildlife activist in his home country South Africa, made these remarks on his official Twitter handle.
Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Pietersen asserted that the way the young generation is losing interest in test cricket, only a few Test cricketing nations will play the format by 2026.
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1434116477955813376
“This is painful to tweet but I think this is slowly happening… In 2026 there will only be a few Test Match cricketing nations. ENGLAND INDIA AUSTRALIA Possibly SOUTH AFRICA & PAKISTAN,” KP tweeted, leaving New Zealand out of his count.
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When one of his followers brought his attention to the Test Championship, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has recently introduced to bring the cricket’s longest format into contention, Pietersen said that even the championship will not last long.
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1434128331650314240
“Yep! [It] won’t be around in 2026! No kids want to play Tests! Its history will help its survival with the bigger boards. [I hold nothing against NZ at all. I’m just saying what I’m starting to see.”
The rationale behind KP’s statement
His statement might be harsh but it isn’t unrealistic as many cricket fans would deem it. In recent years, top Test nations, including Australia, England, and India have rarely visited smaller Test countries like Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe. This is mainly because touring smaller countries neither helps it financially nor in terms of competitiveness. Results; stronger teams play Tests against each other while minnows compete mostly in white-ball games.
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The last time England visited Bangladesh for a Test series was in 2016 – the series was tied 1-1. Similarly, Australia has not visited them since 2017, while India last hosted the side for a Test series in 2019, which they won 2-0.
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Will New Zealand survive?
The reason why he thinks New Zealand will not be able to make it by 2026 is the lack of financial stability in their cricket board. While Kiwis are the reigning Test champions, and runners-ups of the recent ODI World Cup, the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is unable to host more than a two-Test series because of their financial issues.
On the other hand, cricket boards like BCCI, ECB, and ABC have a lot of money in their bank accounts and they keep it growing by playing against each other.
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