Cricket: Test champs needed

If you're of the purist variety then, yes, the fact that 61 per cent of this country's best cricketers said they would tailor their games to suit Twenty20 cricket is a little scary.

Yes, the fact 45 per cent of them believe that earning an IPL contract is the sport's pinnacle is ominous.

But in all this, there might be an answer. Some 78 per cent of respondents believed the International Cricket Council should implement a Test Championship to give the five-day format "more context and meaning".

Putting aside the obvious logistical difficulties, this move is long overdue. The world has gone tournament ga-ga and the days of annual fixtures belong to a different age.

Yes, the Ashes will always be the Ashes but there are few other compelling series that can carry themselves on reputation alone. Anyone fancy watching Sri Lanka take on Bangladesh for kicks?

It would also help New Zealand's case. We are not an attractive proposition for the big countries because we don't generate interest nor drive revenue. If there is any change to the Future Tours Programme, New Zealand will suffer.

But if every test series had something hanging on it, suddenly the interest level would ratchet up and, frankly, test playing nations would have no choice but to take New Zealand seriously.

In other survey results, Jesse Ryder's transformation from dunce to dux was complete, as his peers named him player of the year.

Kane Williamson was overwhelmingly voted as best player yet to have played for New Zealand. Daniel Vettori was named best allrounder and best bowler in all forms of the game.

McLean Park had the best pitch and Eden Park the best practice facilities, while Dunedin's University Oval came last in both categories.

Domestic cricket received a guarded thumbs up, with the qualification being that the majority of players still want the four-day State Championship to be played over two full rounds.