Holding fears Test cricket may become extinct

Michael Holding said that even he would have found it difficult to resist the temptation of earning big money by playing in T20 leagues around the world © Getty images

Melbourne: Aug 28, 2011

West Indies pace legend Michael Holding fears that Test cricket will become "insignificant" in the next few years as its quality is "sinking" due to the increasing number of matches.

"The quality of Test cricket is sinking because there is too much of it. You have to have quality instead of quantity," Holding told 'The Daily Telegraph'.

"Test cricket may be around in five years' time, but it will become insignificant, it won't be relevant. It is sad, very sad," he said.

Here to promote documentary 'Fire In Babylon,' which focusses on the West Indies' 15-year dominance of Test cricket during the 1980s and '90s, Holding said even fast bowlers would become a rare species if the workload is not lessened.

"...fast bowlers are being asked to play too much cricket. You can't bowl at 90mph and play so much cricket," Holding, who took 249 wickets in 60 Tests, said.

"Test cricket is hard work. They're not going to survive very long. Fast bowlers are dwindling away, there are fewer and fewer of them," he said.(PTI)