Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder, has joined the calls for Test cricket to remain untouched, and called it the pinnacle of the sport.

The health of Test cricket has been a much-debated topic, especially since the advent of T20 cricket, and led to the introduction of day-night Test cricket last decade, in a bid to keep it relevant. Recently, there have been calls for four-day Test cricket as well, but Stokes, for one, is of the opinion that the format shouldn’t be tampered with.

“For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle,” he told Ish Sodhi, the New Zealand spinner, in the Rajasthan Royals Podcast. “There’s been a lot of talk recently about Test cricket dying, but I don’t know where that comes from.

“You ask all the players who, or maybe not all the players, but I know the likes of Virat (Kohli) and (Joe) Root have spoken about how Test cricket is where you really get tested.”

Stokes came through one such grind in Headingley during the Ashes last year, when he scored 135 not out to rescue England from near-certain defeat, adding a remarkable 76* with Jack Leach for the final wicket, a partnership to which Leach contributed 1*.

“To be honest, in my opinion, it (2019) eclipsed 2005 in terms of what we managed to do for the sport.”

Ben Stokes on the impact of England’s success in 2019.https://t.co/eN57aNvMcU

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 28, 2020

The knock, along with his enigmatic performance in the World Cup 2019 final, led to him being named Wisden Leading Cricketer of the year by the Wisden Almanack. “It [Test cricket] is where you find out what you’re really about as a cricketer, and for me it is the purest form of the sport,” said Stokes.

“It has to stay around, it would be a sad, sad day if Test cricket was changed. If they are going to change the rules, I think they should call it ‘easy cricket’.”

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