The Test Cricket Resurgence

[cricket_icon]

It has been a pretty amazing 12 months of Test cricket. In that same span of time, talk has turned from "Test cricket is dying, how do we save it?" to "is England truly number one? Did India ever deserve their place amongst the greats? How good is South Africa? Is Pakistan's revival set to continue under a new coach? How long before Australia climb back to the top of a mountain, which they once dominated with such might?"

All of the above questions and discussions have spread like wild fires across internet forums and articles the world over. The World Cup, which concluded less than a year ago is nothing but an after thought and the Test series' that have followed seem to have ignited more passion and fervour amongst fans across the globe.

In what other form of the game can you catch a glimpse of the rarest of magic, that wonderful spell known as Saeed Ajmal at his very best? What other form of the game gives you glimpses of a by-gone age of swing bowling? What other form of the game allows captains to declare while still chasing a score? What other form of the game has it's number one spot contested so fiercely by at least 5 different teams?

Test cricket is here to live and I've loved every moment of it. The debuts of Phillander, Pattinson, Cummins and Khan have allowed us all to dream once again of those glory days, so beautifully ingrained into our memories, days when Akram, Donald, Ambrose, Younis, Walsh and co. set fans hearts racing.

Where else can we see the patient elegance of Alastair Cook, the belligerent arrogance of Kevin Pieterson, the enterprising captaincy of Michael Clarke or the most surprising of all things, a calming influence in the Pakistani dressing room.

I haven't even begun to mention floundering growth within the West Indies, the emergence of Virat Kohli as a good test batsman or the fact that no team is ever safe when playing away from home.

Viva La Test Cricket

 

[sifter132]

I'd have to agree, there has been plenty of competitive cricket and some close Test matches. It's a good time for Test cricket, hopefully fans appreciate it

 

[aussie1st]

It is just what Test cricket needed in the face of the ever increasing popularity of T20 cricket. Even the domestic FC matches saw a number of tight matches which went down to the wire.

 

[cricket_icon]

What I really hope is a renewed interest amongst so called casual fans in the County Championship. It is a great place to learn about up and coming talent and to witness some of English crickets unsung heroes.

 

[Owzat]

Have watched a bit of IPL the past few days, not much just maybe 5-10 minutes background. Don't see what the fuss is about, the games are over too quickly and any competition that feels the need to count the tournament sixes is sheet. To me that's like telling people your age in days.

With a few decent pitches and a shift in organiser mentality Test cricket can be king again - well second behind the World Cup. The best cricket, regardless of format, is competitive and too many games are predictable when you want twists and turns. T20 is too short for twists and turns, by the time a game has twisted or turned then it's over

 

[Dipak]

You could of mentioned the Hobart test b/w NZ & Aus, how test cricket has a great history and what a est victory can mean to a team and also about the Ashes. The emotional value of test cricket can not be unmatched by any format.

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It is just what Test cricket needed in the face of the ever increasing popularity of T20 cricket. Even the domestic FC matches saw a number of tight matches which went down to the wire.

Yea! The final game of the Bupa Shield as well as the draw that South Australia ground out were really close.

 

[cricket_icon]

With a few decent pitches and a shift in organiser mentality Test cricket can be king again - well second behind the World Cup. The best cricket, regardless of format, is competitive and too many games are predictable when you want twists and turns. T20 is too short for twists and turns, by the time a game has twisted or turned then it's over

I don't agree with you on some of those points. I believe T20 cricket can have great twists and turns, who remembers the T20 WC semi between Pakistan and Australia? Just when it seemed it was all over, Mike Hussey butchered Saeed Ajmal and won Australia the game. That's just off the top of my head.

There was a time when people said T20 was a batsmans games and just a bit of a slog. If you look at quality T20 teams these days, they all have top quality bowlers who really make batsmen work for their runs. Some of the top T20 players in my opinions are bowlers (Gul, Ajmal, Afridi, Malinga, Swann).

I'm not an IPL fan because the pitches are too flat and the bowlers mediocre but when played at it's best, it can be a great spectacle filled with finely tuned skill. I think it T20 is managed properly, the world championships are held every 2 years with very few T20 internationals played in between, it could be a very useful tournament providing international cricket. I think the IPL has turned T20 into everything the detractors said it would be, whereas all 3 previous world tournaments have produced good CRICKET.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I think the point of twenty20 is that it does have lots of twists and turns, it compacts the traditional ebb and flow of cricket into a few overs, so where an attritional partnership over a session in a test, or a great 8 over spell by a bowler would change the game it happens with just a couple of big sixes or two wickets in an over, it's all twists and turns in that respect.

it's problem is that the great achievements in cricket are ones of endurance and perseverence imo, making a gritty 100 is replaced by a cameo 40 and wickets fall ever 3 or 4 overs off stupid slogs rather than at the result of accurate bowling setting the batsman up.

 

[cricket_icon]

Agree a little bit with BoHoon. T20 has become fast forward cricket but there are still great feats. Gul becoming the first bowler to take a 5-for, it was done with accurate, yorker bowling which would have been world class in any format of the game.

Not all of cricket's greatest innings, whether it be with the bat or ball are to do with endurance. One of the greatest test innings of all times was Lara's 227 in Sydney, now that definitely was not an innings of endurance and attrition. He slaughtered the Aussie bowling all over the ground. That innings occurred with a SR of over 70. Contrast that to his 400 against England, there is no comparison. I'm sure anyone who knows cricket would agree the 277 was a far greater innings.

 

[sifter132]

Yeah fast forward cricket sounds about right. Lots of twists and turns, they are just short ones.

I think your are hitting on one of the key things though cricket_icon: the feats in the game and how memorable they are eg. Lara's 277 or 400. The more T20 gets put in the calendar, the less memorable each game or each achievement is. To me it's like premiership football which just drags and drags with 38 games a year. Who remembers each game? Only the most diehard fans. More games dilutes the memories and makes each individual game feel less special.

Anyway, that's not a criticism of T20, it can be of Test cricket too. If too much is played in too short a time *cough* 10 Ashes Tests next year *cough*cough*

 

[cricket_icon]

Anyway, that's not a criticism of T20, it can be of Test cricket too. If too much is played in too short a time *cough* 10 Ashes Tests next year *cough*cough*

That is very true. Too much of anything can hurt you. There was a time when the Ashes, done every 2 years, created a sense of anticipation and wonder. With back to back Ashes series' that could all change.

 

[sifter132]

Especially if the 10 Tests are one sided. A change of venue halfway through would provide a possible change of momentum, but if it ends up 7-1 over the 10 Tests or something stupid like that, I think the Ashes brand will suffer a lot.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

are they planning on doing this? hadn't heard anything about that.

and yeah, the one sided series is a problem, to be honest, I can't even remember a thing from the last tests in the england v india or the australia v india series, didn't even check the scores as I'd given up on them as contests by that time.

 

[sifter132]

Yes, the schedule has 5 Tests in England in mid 2013, followed by 5 Tests in the Australian summer of 2013/14. So, there'll be a whole 3 months between series. I think long term it's going to help England out - they are always bitching about having to come to Australia for the Ashes, and then play a World Cup a couple of months later...whinging Poms If they ever won a WC there would be no complaints... Despite those benefits, I think the administrators were VERY happy with the idea of moving up the Australian hosted Ashes, purely from a greed point of view. Ashes means more money, more viewers etc. But to be fair, after next years 10 back-to-back Tests, no one will care about Ashes overkill it will go back to normal.

 

[Jigsawpuzzell]

They're not honestly planning to do that with the Ashes are they? TEN TESTS, back-to-back series? Test Cricket and particularly the Ashes is the only form of cricket that's truly cricket, but that would be TERRIBLE