People have predicted the death of Test cricket for decades, but has the moment finally arrived?

Almost 45 years ago, the cream of Australian and world cricket pulled on some coloured clothes for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket and changed the game forever.

It wasn’t just the increased money for the players. The administrators — painted into a corner by Packer — came to understand the power of one-day cricket as an un-tapped device to bring in the punters and the filthy lucre.

Ever since, cricket purists have fretted about the imminent demise of Test cricket such that it’s become an annual talking point and easy to dismiss as a case of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

After all, the Test series keep rolling along and, as we just saw when India defeated Australia recently, Test cricket still provides the most thrilling moments of all…