Ntini raises questions over fewer Tests for South Africa: The truth and bleak future for the format

South African pacer Kagiso Rabada had a stellar day in office as he ran through India’s batting with a five-wicket haul on Day 1 of the first Test at Centurion. Since making his debut, Rabada has gone from strength to strength, emerging as one of the best pacers, something he was expected to be from a very young age. He, however, only has 280 Test wickets in a career spanning eight years and is a long way away from catching the top wicket-taking pacers in the longer format.

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Dale Steyn is the highest wicket-taker in Tests for the Proteas with 439 scalps from 93 Tests followed by Shaun Pollock who took 421 wickets in 108 matches.

South Africa legend and former pacer Makhaya Ntini, who took 390 wickets in Test cricket, was asked about where Rabada stands in comparison to Steyn and Pollock.

The former fast bowler claimed that Rabada is already in the class of Steyn and Pollock but it’s difficult for him to reach the 400-wicket mark like them in Test cricket as South Africa are playing only a handful of Tests every year.

“He is already up there. When you talk about those guys, when you talk about those bowlers, they have passed the 400-mark and KG is chasing the 300-mark. But we have got a massive problem,” Ntini told the news agency PTI.

“You are playing two Test matches a year and what is that? Do you think this guy (Rabada) can hold up till he gets to that milestone? It’s not going to be easy for the nature of games (number of matches and formats) that is being given to South Africa to play against other countries,” he added.

Are South Africa playing fewer Test matches than other countries?

South Africa played a total of 43 Tests between the 2018 and 2023 calendar year. 26 of these was at home.

England in the same period played 72 Tests while Australia and India were also involved in more than 50 matches. Sri Lanka played 46 Tests, while Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa were involved in 43 matches each followed by New Zealand (42).

Bangladesh played 36 Test followed by Zimbabwe (12), Afghanistan (7) and Ireland (7).

Number of Tests played by teams between 2018 and 2023:

Afghanistan: 7
Australia: 54
Bangladesh: 36
England: 72
India: 55
Ireland: 7
New Zealand: 42
Pakistan: 43
South Africa: 43
Sri Lanka: 46
West Indies: 43
Zimbabwe: 12

The concerning part for South Africa, however, is the ICC’s new men’s Future Tour Programme from 2023 to 2027. In that, South Africa are scheduled to play just 28 Tests.

In fact, South Africa are not playing a single series longer than two Tests. It’s felt that South Africa are playing a considerably fewer number of international games in the 2023-27 cycle to allow their players to take part in franchise T20 tournaments.

The number of Tests is in fact going down for all major countries. Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, however, are scheduled to play a significantly higher number of Tests.

Team-wise Tests in 2023-27 Men’s FTP cycle:

Afghanistan: 21
Australia: 40
Bangladesh: 34
England: 43
India: 38
Ireland: 12
New Zealand: 32
Pakistan: 27
South Africa: 28
Sri Lanka: 25
West Indies: 26
Zimbabwe: 20