New Delhi: West Indies captain Jason Holder has backed Kevin Pietersen's suggestion that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should increase Test wages to lure star players to the longer version of the game.
Holder, who is leading an inexperienced and battered Caribbean squad in Australia believes that it was possibly the only way to keep Test cricket alive.
“Obviously we’re in a situation where the money isn’t great for us at the moment and we’ve been in numerous battles for that but that’s beyond our control at this present time. We’ve just got to play cricket. At the end of the day hopefully somewhere along the line we can have an increasing pay and be paid a little bit better than at the moment,” Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
The 24-year-old also called for a balance between different formats.
I think we need to strike a balance," Holder said. "I'm not knocking T20 cricket because I love T20 cricket myself, but we just need to find a way where the country comes first and then we are flexible in terms of allowing people to make money outside of international cricket. I don't think we should be playing hard ball and deny people from going and playing, but there has to be a situation where we make international cricket our first priority."
Yesterday, former England captain KP lamented the dwindling interest in Tests among kids.
"Something has to be done for Test cricket to survive, because I know first-hand, having coached kids from all around the world about a month ago with my foundation in Dubai, that they've got no interest in Test cricket. None," said Pietersen after arriving back in Melbourne from England.
"The ICC controls world cricket and they should say: 'Right, we need Gayle, we need even (Kieron) Pollard, we need (Darren) Sammy, we need (Dwayne) Bravo, we need Andre Russell'. Andre Russell is bowling at 150km/h, whacking big sixes in the Big Bash. He should be doing that in a Test match, he shouldn't be doing it here," Pietersen was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
"It's just a sad state of affairs that these guys here, who are star attractions all around the world and they command big numbers from T20 franchises, it's just sad they're not playing the longer form of the game.
"Test players should be paid a hell of a lot of money. That's the only way they're going to get the guys back playing. They should get paid so much more money than we get paid playing domestic tournaments," he added.
(With Agency inputs)
