New Delhi, Aug 21 — Former South Africa cricketer Daryll Cullinan has warned that modern Test cricket is being forced to act as a ‘finishing school’ for players ill-equipped to face the moving red ball and pointed to the decay of traditional first-class apprenticeship and the misplaced copying of Australia batter Steve Smith's unconventional style.
"The old apprenticeship offered a safeguard we have not properly replaced. Theory never got the final vote there; the game did. A batter could arrive with almost any method he liked, and over a long season the ball would reveal whether the method survived serious examination.
“Without that kind of process, Test cricket is left to be the finishing school, which it should never be. The school before a batter gets to the top is simply not good enough now, the way it was in the past," Cullinan wrote in his column for Cricinfo on Friday.
He also noted that legendary batters developed their judgment through rigorous domestic stints, particularly in English county cricket, where varying conditions forced batters to figure out structural solutions to line and seam movement.
Cullinan also criticized modern coaching for over-relying on biomechanics, academic language, and trying to replicate Australia star Steve Smith's unique technique without understanding its nuances.
"Enter Steve Smith, the chief influencer. Few batters have challenged convention as successfully, and still scored as heavily against the best bowling in the world as he has. The mistake was assuming what worked for Smith should become a template for everyone else.
“Smith understood his own method intimately and adjusted it constantly to the bowler and the conditions in front of him. An elite player proving something can work does not prove that everyone should be taught it. Smith's greatness has duped a whole generation of coaches and players - which is a tribute to his genius,” he added.
Emphasising that technical fixes cannot be learned under high-pressure Test matches, Cullinan stressed the need to restore challenging domestic cricket playing environments for young batters.
"That old finishing school is largely gone now, and I do not expect it to come back. But the lesson it taught still holds true. The great players were not built by removing difficulty from their path. They were built by spending enough time, facing enough failure and enough real consequence, to work out for themselves what actually did the job.
“We cannot replace that process with cricket science, or the belief that other formats can somehow meet the same demands by different means. If we genuinely want players who cope better with a moving ball, they need the chance to develop that skill well before Test cricket asks it of them, not when they are playing Test cricket, under the highest pressure, for the first time.
“If we don't, we will continue to see players come and go, and teams keep looking for continuity, excellence and a winning culture. Otherwise, let's be honest about what a good performance against the moving ball actually is now. An anomaly, not a reflection of anything built to last, and a winning result for the team on the right side of luck," he concluded.