Just as the year comes to an end, a real good exhibition of Test Match cricket was in view in the last month of the year. Cricket in India resumed from a disturbing but soothingly small hiatus through the India-England Test series, and three riveting games of Test match cricket were played during this month (in Chennai, Perth and Melbourne). These events gave me a thought of writing an article on Test cricket.
With all the thrills and entertainment that T20 provides to today’s fast paced world within a time frame similar to an Indian movie, there are talks about the future of Test cricket already. Test cricket is in danger only when two unequals try to fight it out but ultimately there is only one team dominating. But doesn’t this happen to any sport? It is definitely a worry when teams like New Zealand and West Indies play like the way they have been for quite some time now and cricket has almost come to a standstill for another team (Pakistan) due to non-cricket reasons. Test cricket playing nations are quite a handful and so it is really important that at least 8 of the 10 teams are highly competitive.
Apart from this worrying recent trend, nothing can fascinate one as much as a good Test cricket match. When one wants to do everything in speed of light in current times, Test cricket is a sort of throwback to the past. But also, Test cricket definitely is changing with time (which is essential for survival). Almost 70% of matches today see close to 300 runs being scored in 90 overs. Thanks largely to Australia which set this as the norm. The entertainment quotient can be less when compared with a One Day or a T20, but a well competed Test match definitely will give greater joy.
Today’s Test cricket has evolved quite beautifully with time. The more corporates and coverage by which the game has fed off, the more result oriented it has become. The game has become much more demanding. Earlier there was a rest day in the midst of a Test, but it is no more present and also the number of matches that are being played now is mind boggling. Test cricket has a good mix of aggression and patience. You can neither have five of the seven batsmen like Rahul Dravid nor like Adam Gilchrist. Just being slow and steady today will not give result.
A lot can be observed from Test cricket. First, one needs quite some patience not only to play but also to watch. People today do not like to see a Neil Mckenzie block the ball for what seems like an eternity, but unless ones sees a bit of that, the flurry of runs that is bound to come at certain point cannot be appreciated. Next is the adaptability factor. A parallel can be drawn here between Indian cricket and India as a country. Today India is considered a hot spot in Information Technology which can primarily be attributed to its adaptability. It is not alone cheap labour that brings work to India but also the way we are able to work with the rest of the world. It is no wonder that the Indian Test cricket side which was considered a really poor traveling side has changed the trend in the recent past. This generation in India adapts well and no good example can be given for that than Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Test cricket asks one to have high levels of endurance, concentration and consistency. How often have we seen a team lose or win a match just because of one or two bad sessions? Decision making is another very interesting aspect of Test cricket. It is more complex in Test cricket than in One Day cricket or in other popular sports like football, where decisions can be more instinctive. In Test cricket, even a side which is in an advantageous position has a lot of factors to think upon before arriving at a decision. For example, timing of a declaration, taking a new ball and so many other decisions has lot of dependencies to be thought of. In short, the thinking needs to be a good mixture of being instinctive as well as well planned.
That is why Steve Waugh called it ‘mental disintegration’ rather than ‘mental destruction’. It is always not feasible to have the conducive environment and needed resources to be destructive (which is a rather quick phenomenon) but ‘disintegration’ is much slower, more practical and needs much more thought process. Also, cricket being a team game makes it even harder to execute. One can imagine this being done more easily in an individual sport where the thought process is easier to implement. In cricket if one person bowls and keeps up pressure at one end but the bowler at the other end messes it up, the desired result cannot be obtained. Steve Waugh had the luxury of two of the most consistent and gifted exponents of bowling (Warne & Mcgrath) to employ this with huge success.
So, Test cricket shall remain as the defining format of the game and it really helps a cricketer to become better not only in the game but also as a person. Test cricket gives an opportunity to its practitioners to evolve and become better even as it continues to do its primary job (to provide entertainment)
I WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD!!!!!
-Raghavan
With all the thrills and entertainment that T20 provides to today’s fast paced world within a time frame similar to an Indian movie, there are talks about the future of Test cricket already. Test cricket is in danger only when two unequals try to fight it out but ultimately there is only one team dominating. But doesn’t this happen to any sport? It is definitely a worry when teams like New Zealand and West Indies play like the way they have been for quite some time now and cricket has almost come to a standstill for another team (Pakistan) due to non-cricket reasons. Test cricket playing nations are quite a handful and so it is really important that at least 8 of the 10 teams are highly competitive.
Apart from this worrying recent trend, nothing can fascinate one as much as a good Test cricket match. When one wants to do everything in speed of light in current times, Test cricket is a sort of throwback to the past. But also, Test cricket definitely is changing with time (which is essential for survival). Almost 70% of matches today see close to 300 runs being scored in 90 overs. Thanks largely to Australia which set this as the norm. The entertainment quotient can be less when compared with a One Day or a T20, but a well competed Test match definitely will give greater joy.
Today’s Test cricket has evolved quite beautifully with time. The more corporates and coverage by which the game has fed off, the more result oriented it has become. The game has become much more demanding. Earlier there was a rest day in the midst of a Test, but it is no more present and also the number of matches that are being played now is mind boggling. Test cricket has a good mix of aggression and patience. You can neither have five of the seven batsmen like Rahul Dravid nor like Adam Gilchrist. Just being slow and steady today will not give result.
A lot can be observed from Test cricket. First, one needs quite some patience not only to play but also to watch. People today do not like to see a Neil Mckenzie block the ball for what seems like an eternity, but unless ones sees a bit of that, the flurry of runs that is bound to come at certain point cannot be appreciated. Next is the adaptability factor. A parallel can be drawn here between Indian cricket and India as a country. Today India is considered a hot spot in Information Technology which can primarily be attributed to its adaptability. It is not alone cheap labour that brings work to India but also the way we are able to work with the rest of the world. It is no wonder that the Indian Test cricket side which was considered a really poor traveling side has changed the trend in the recent past. This generation in India adapts well and no good example can be given for that than Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Test cricket asks one to have high levels of endurance, concentration and consistency. How often have we seen a team lose or win a match just because of one or two bad sessions? Decision making is another very interesting aspect of Test cricket. It is more complex in Test cricket than in One Day cricket or in other popular sports like football, where decisions can be more instinctive. In Test cricket, even a side which is in an advantageous position has a lot of factors to think upon before arriving at a decision. For example, timing of a declaration, taking a new ball and so many other decisions has lot of dependencies to be thought of. In short, the thinking needs to be a good mixture of being instinctive as well as well planned.
That is why Steve Waugh called it ‘mental disintegration’ rather than ‘mental destruction’. It is always not feasible to have the conducive environment and needed resources to be destructive (which is a rather quick phenomenon) but ‘disintegration’ is much slower, more practical and needs much more thought process. Also, cricket being a team game makes it even harder to execute. One can imagine this being done more easily in an individual sport where the thought process is easier to implement. In cricket if one person bowls and keeps up pressure at one end but the bowler at the other end messes it up, the desired result cannot be obtained. Steve Waugh had the luxury of two of the most consistent and gifted exponents of bowling (Warne & Mcgrath) to employ this with huge success.
So, Test cricket shall remain as the defining format of the game and it really helps a cricketer to become better not only in the game but also as a person. Test cricket gives an opportunity to its practitioners to evolve and become better even as it continues to do its primary job (to provide entertainment)
I WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD!!!!!
-Raghavan
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