Snedden defends scheduling

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden has defended his board’s decision to replace one of the three Tests next summer against Sri Lanka in favour of two Twenty20 internationals, saying that he is running a business and must therefore cater to demand.

While he maintains that tests are the “highest form of the game”, he says that Twenty20 is more popular in terms of both gate takings and television ratings and therefore there must be plenty of it to satisfy the demand.

Snedden suggests that Twenty20 is here to stay as a format and is growing in popularity, and believes it will consolidate its position on the international cricket calendar.

Although many are worried about the lack of Tests New Zealand will be playing in the near future, with only three scheduled between now and November 2007, Snedden has said these worries are unfounded because this is only a temporary shortage of test cricket, with New Zealand down to play 48 tests in the 54 months after that.