Started this in the NZ tour of Aus update thread, but this really belongs in here.
Thought I'd look at the FTP programme as agreed at November 2014, as that will presumably be fairly close to what unfolds over the next few years.
It's really very bad for New Zealand. 27 tests over the next four years against top 8 opposition. By way of comparison, Sri Lanka will be playing 49, South Africa 46, Pakistan 41 and the West Indies 34. Yes even WI will be playing more test cricket than us.
Looking at the schedule, it seems like the scheduling strategy has moved away from a traditional home summer (with 2 touring sides visiting for fairly lengthy periods) to as many short sharp tours as possible (4 in each of the next 3 years). And of course short tours will usually mean that test matches get binned.
I initially didn't pay too much mind to the latest FTP programme, but recently David White has made comments that appear to corroborate parts of it, and that's got me extremely nervous.
More cricket than ever for Black Caps | Radio New Zealand News
I know that things are proceeding on a bilateral basis from now on, so we should take the 2014 FTP with a grain of salt.But what's worrying me is that there's so little room for expanding the amount of test cricket that New Zealand can play. There's really no opportunity to play test matches during the short limited overs tours that we have scheduled over the next few years. Test matches are quite long afterall, and even a two match series with a warmup game will take 3 weeks to finish. If you've got a team visiting for 3 weeks to play 5 ODI's and a couple of T20's, there simply isn't the time to play any test cricket - unless you can all of the limited overs stuff. Something about that strikes me as unlikely at the moment. Having done a bit of thinking about it, we
might be able to squeeze in another 5 or 10 tests over the next 4 years. However, those extra tests would be predicated on the currently abandoned CLT20 window being filled with bilateral tours - and I've already heard rumours that the BCCI are planning on filling it up with another IPL competition instead.
If this schedule turns out to be accurate - then I can't help but feel that - once again - we've been lied to by the NZC. Martin Sneedon was interviewed several times in early 2014 (around the time of the Big 3 takeover) saying that New Zealand were about to see a major increase in the amount of test cricket that we play as a result of the change up. Furthermore the NZC has made repeated statements about how test match cricket is our prime focus and wanting to increase the amount that we play. This schedule screams exactly the opposite.
Again, none of this is confirmed, and things could change over the next 6 months or so. But on the face of it, this is pathetic. This is very close to being the greatest New Zealand test side of all time, it's certainly the most entertaining to watch, and despite that we'll be playing the smallest amount of test cricket that we have in decades. Previously I've stated that I didn't mind having the test series v Australia truncated to 2. Now I'm furious about it.