Want to save Test cricket? Protect the players

The first Test match of a series often poses more questions than it answers, with journalists and spectators alike pondering how the teams and players will respond to the opening exchanges. South Africa’s triumph over Sri Lanka at Centurion, however, provoked a unique set of questions: when is an innings victory not entirely convincing? How can a score of 199 in a Test match feel so short of a Test double-century? And is the longest format of the game giving itself the best chance to flourish?

At stumps on the first day at SuperSport Park in Centurion, the match seemed poised for a minor classic, with Sri Lanka at 340 for 6, on their way to a total of 396. This total, anchored by Dinesh Chandimal’s 85 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 79, was the highest ever set by a Sri Lankan team in South Africa.

Dhananjaya de Silva tore a thigh muscle while batting

Unfortunately for the players, coaches and television audience, de Silva was forced to retire hurt with a torn thigh muscle and was unable to bat in the second innings, or bowl any of his useful off-breaks. This set the tone for the rest of the contest, with the first Test pivoting on strains and tears as much as any brilliance with bat or ball.

The touring Sri Lankans, perhaps short of fitness with only the Lanka Premier League 20-over tournament for recent practice, suffered a string of injuries across the second and third days. After de Silva’s breakdown, they were soon deprived of their pace spearheads in Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara through injury, with the former only able to complete two overs. South Africa were ruthless with the bat against such a depleted attack, with Faf du Plessis (199) and Dean Elgar (95) leading them to a mighty 621 all out.

Faf du Plessis scored 199 at Centurion

With de Silva absent and Chandimal also requiring attention from the physio, Sri Lanka were blown away for 180 in their second innings. The Test concluded in farcical circumstances, with Anrich Nortje peppering a hobbling Rajitha with round-the-wicket short balls, as Sri Lanka’s number 10 batsman compiled a 27-ball duck. It was an ugly end to what had started as an even, exciting contest.

In almost every other sport, Sri Lanka would have been permitted to bring on like-for-like replacements for their injured players. The only sport that lasts five days, however, limits teams to just a single substitute fielder, who must not bat or bowl.

While mid-match injuries have spoiled Test matches before, the rules seem particularly anachronistic in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, when sports such as football are loosening the restrictions on substitutions in recognition of the disrupted schedules facing players and teams.

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne, speaking at the end of the match, lamented: “I've never faced a situation like this and maybe no one has, where in one match you lose three bowlers. If our bowlers had stayed fit we would have been able to do something.”

Dimuth Karunaratne and Mickey Arthur saw their side frustrated by injuries

Sri Lanka’s South African coach, Mickey Arthur, went further and promised to raise the issue with the International Cricket Council. He told reporters: “In terms of Covid substitutions, I sit on the ICC cricket committee and I will be having a chat at the end of this Test match.”

While some traditionalists may worry that allowing injury substitutes to bat or bowl leaves the system open to skulduggery, there are potential solutions. One would see any substitutions limited to two pre-approved substitutes (a batter and a bowler), who can replace injured players with a similar role for the remainder of the Test match. To further protect the integrity of the substitute system, all injuries would have to be verified by an independent “match doctor”, as well as the team’s physio.

Cricket’s ruling powers in the ICC have shown that they can be open to innovation, whether it is through the integration of the Decision Review System, the launch of the World Test Championship or increasing numbers of Day-Night Tests.

A similarly progressive update to the substitution rules would mean that Test matches are no longer derailed when players get hurt. Nothing would do more to strengthen the prestige of the longest form of the game, at a time when it is under greater strain than ever before.