Sri Lankan legend Angelo Mathews expressed his displeasure and anxiety over the paucity of Test cricket for countries other than India, England, and Australia. The veteran will retire from red-ball cricket after the first Test against Bangladesh on June 17 in Galle.
Sri Lanka will play four Tests in 2025, their fewest in a calendar year since 2013. During the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Australia, India, and England each played at least 19 Tests over two years. South Africa, the World Tennis Championship winner, played 13.
Mathews felt that the team should have been handed more Test matches. He stated that the youngsters are eager to represent their country in the red-ball format as much as possible.
“I think it’s rather sad, to be honest. I mean, the younger generation is calling for more Test cricket. Test cricket is unquestionably the pinnacle of cricket. We should all urge for additional tests.
“These guys are very enthusiastic about Test cricket,” Angelo Mathews added.
“I believe there should be at least ten matches [every year]. Teams such as England, India, and Australia play more than 15 games per year. Why can’t we play? We can. If we keep pressing, we will have to. We’ve won World Cups. We have contributed so much to cricket as a nation, and we deserve to play Test cricket alongside Australia, India, and England,” he continued.
The 38-year-old will retire from Test cricket and highlighted that there will not be any Test for a year. He stated that it is good to give opportunities to others, as they will not get a chance till the next year.
“I played my 100th Test in Galle, so I thought I’d say goodbye in Galle. But the main reason was because we don’t have any games coming up, at least for now. After this, we’ll be having our next assignment in Test cricket after a year’s time, that is a very long wait,” said Mathews.
“I thought it’s good to give an opportunity to whoever is going to replace me in the second Test, because he’s not going to get an opportunity till the next year (laughs). And in that year, you don’t know what’s going to happen. So I thought I’d just play one game and then try and give an opportunity to the other guy who’s replacing me in the second Test,” he concluded.
India
