Test cricket’s endless cycle of matches wheels into Seddon Park in Hamilton on Wednesday where New Zealand play Bangladesh in the kind of series that probably prompted the chairman of the International Cricket Council to say last week: “Test cricket is dying.”

Shashank Manohar was simply copying his colleagues at the England and Wales Cricket Board by putting the boot into Test cricket, although he is far from alone. The news on Tuesday that Duanne Olivier – aged just 26 and ranked the 19th best bowler in the world – has decided to forego his international career with South Africa in favour of a lucrative three-year Kolpak contract with Yorkshire was a stark reminder of the challenges posed to the game’s longest format.

Yet the situation is not so gloomy. In many respects the game is enjoying a renaissance. More Test matches are ending in positive results than ever and a competitive balance between all teams is preventing a hierarchy from developing. Teams are beating each other, it is unpredictable and Sri Lanka’s 2-0 win in South Africa shows home bias has slipped.

Manohar had Test-match attendances in mind and how they pale next to Twenty20 but there was also an eye on how he will be remembered by history. The ICC launches the first Test championship (the Ashes is the inaugural series) this summer and if the competition is a success Manohar can claim in years to come that he played a big part in saving a dying format.