The results against West Indies have had a knock-on effect on this series. Sri Lanka, like West Indies, lack the stars of old and are not the force they were at Test level. Supporters are saving their money instead for the Australia white-ball series.

It comes at a time when the England Bazballers are great to watch; a team that sets out to entertain and inspire. When Brendon McCullum took on the job he said it was English cricket’s responsibility to try to save Test cricket by setting an example, but the problems are deeper rooted.

The appointment this week of Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, to the chairmanship of the International Cricket Council tightened even further India’s grip on power.

Shah has proposed a Test match fund to pay players a minimum of $10,000 per game, aimed at the poorer boards who struggle to retain talent. Several of the West Indies’ best players did not appear in the Test series in June but played in the Hundred instead.

However, Cricket West Indies already pays its players $10,000 per Test. Upping match fees will make little difference, whereas a more equal share of the ICC’s $230 million annual handout would be a game changer. Currently India takes 38.5 per cent, England and Australia just over six per cent and the rest five per cent each.

India could afford to let others have a bigger slice

India generates 80 per cent of the ICC’s income so the argument goes it deserves a greater share, but with an Indian Premier League deal of $6 billion to fall back on (before domestic rights for India matches are taken into account), it needs the money far less than West Indies and Sri Lanka. India could afford to let others have a bigger slice, but that would mean Pakistan enjoying greater funds and it is unlikely that an ICC chaired by the son of India’s home minister, and second-most powerful figure in the ruling nationalist BJP party, would allow that to happen.

In the end, this affects England because every other year it hosts teams that are not India or Australia and if those opponents are impoverished then their ability to compete on the field is diminished, thus selling tickets and generating interest becomes harder. English cricket is reliant on international bilateral series to pay the bills; around 75 per cent of the ECB’s £310 million annual income derives from broadcast rights and ticket sales generated by international matches.

The unpredictable future for Test cricket is why the ECB has invested in its own competition, the Hundred, to reduce the reliance on bilateral series that might not exist in 10 years’ time.

Sri Lanka are no pushovers and could beat a weakened England side this week, but they are a good case study too. This is their first series of more than two matches since 2018, the cost of putting on Test cricket is too much for those countries without a big home broadcast deal. Old Trafford was Sri Lanka’s 30th Test this decade, by the same time in the 2010s they had played 40.

The problems require a collective will for change that does not exist

And of course the Big Three love playing each other, keeping the money within a tighter circle. India go to Australia for five Tests later this year. England were in India for five Tests in March. India play in England next summer for another five before a full five-Test Ashes series in December. Of those 30 Sri Lanka Tests this decade, 14 have been against West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Ireland; just six against the big three, which makes attracting broadcasting deals and subsequent sponsorship a lot harder. England are not touring Sri Lanka or West Indies for Test cricket in the current cycle.

One way to give teams like Sri Lanka and West Indies better preparation would be to play a Test in Ireland before being thrown in against England. But Cricket Ireland cannot afford to put on those matches. Some boards are just too poor to play Test cricket; addressing that problem is where a Test-match fund would make a difference.

There are reasons for slower ticket sales than usual this week. The West Indies Test in July only lasted three days and that will have put some off buying tickets for day four and planning a day out that might not materialise. This is late for a Lord’s Test. Only one other Test in its history – West Indies in 2017 – has started later in the summer than Aug 29. The absence of Ben Stokes may have affected ticket sales too.

The real problems require a collective will for change and vision that does not exist. India tour next summer; the cracks will be papered over again. But, in 2026, it will be New Zealand and Pakistan, the cycle repeating again.