Testing time for cricket's oldest format

Test cricket - the longest and oldest form of the sport - seems to be losing its appeal after the introduction of twenty20 cricket. In a television interview, West Indian bowling legend Michael Holding said: 'With all the money available in twenty20 cricket, top young players are not going to be interested in playing the five-day game.'

Former Hong Kong player, Afzaal Haider, added: 'It [twenty20 cricket] is not destroying Test cricket at this stage, but maybe in the future it will.'

Why twenty20 cricket is so popular

Most importantly, a lot of cricket fans nowadays prefer the faster version of the game. They don't want to sit around for five days to get a result. As for the players, twenty20 cricket is an easy way to earn money. A game lasts about three hours, compared to more than 30 hours over a five-day Test match.

However, many cricket experts claim twenty20 is not the real thing. A team - consisting of 11 players - has only 20 overs to show off their skills in the shortest format of the game, they say. An over is a set of six balls bowled at a batsman by a player from the opposing team. In a Test match, on the other hand, players have an unlimited number of overs to show what they can do with bat or ball.

The first Test match was played between England and Australia in 1877. When people began to complain that five-day cricket was boring, the 50-over version was introduced in the 1960s. 'When I was playing, people said 'Test cricket is too slow', so they brought in 50-over one-day cricket. Now it's down to 20 overs,' Holding said.