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| Test Cricket |
What is Test Cricket?
A form of first-class cricket known as test cricket is played between teams representing full members of the International Cricket Council at the international level (ICC). A game is supposed to last up to five days and consists of four innings (two for each team). Timeless Tests were Test matches that had no time limit in the past. In 1861–1862, the phrase "test match" was first used, but in a different context.
Even though Test cricket did not gain official recognition until the 1890s, many international games played since 1877 have been given Test status retroactively. The first such game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 1877 between the visiting English professionals James Lillywhite's XI and the teams known at the time as a Combined Australian XI. Test matches were first used to refer to games between Australia and England in 1892. Two years later, South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody penned the first comprehensive list of retrospective Tests, which by the turn of the century had gained acceptance.
There are currently twelve complete ICC members participating in Test cricket. The ICC approved day/night Tests in 2012, and Australia and New Zealand played their first day/night Test at Adelaide Oval in November 2015.
Teams with Test status
A nation or collection of nations may be granted test status by the ICC. There are currently twelve men's teams that have been given this status. International teams without Test status can participate in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, where first-class cricket is played under Test-like conditions.
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Nine of these teams are made up of independent sovereign states: the West Indies, which consists of 15 different Caribbean countries and territories, the Ireland team, which includes players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the England cricket team.
From 1970 until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991, South Africa was barred from participating in any cricket matches as a result of the D'Oliveira scandal in 1969.
Due to extremely subpar performances, Zimbabwe's Test status was voluntarily suspended in 2006. However, in August 2011, it was restored.
Play and Rules
In Test cricket, innings are played (the word denotes both the singular and the plural). One team bats and the other bowls in each inning (or fields). In a typical Test match, each team bats twice and bowls twice over the course of four innings. The two team captains and the match referee toss a coin before the first day of play; the captain who wins the toss chooses whether his team will bat or bowl first.
The first-batting team is referred to as Team A in the following scenarios, and their opponents are Team B.
At the end of each inning, the teams typically switch roles. So, until Team A's innings is over, Team A will bat (and Team B will bowl), and after that, Team B will bat and Team A will bowl. Team A starts their second inning after Team B's second inning ends, and then Team B's second inning follows. The team that scores more runs in its two innings is the victor.
An inning for a team can end in one of the following ways:
- The group is "going all out." This usually happens when a team is "bowled out" after losing ten wickets (ten of the team's eleven batsmen were dismissed). Occasionally, it can happen with fewer wickets lost if one or more batsmen are unable to bat (through injury, for example).
- The innings are closed by the team captain, usually because they feel they have scored enough runs. An innings forfeiture is a declaration made prior to the beginning of the inning.
- The winning run total is reached by the team batting fourth.
- The match's allotted time has passed.
The captain of Team A may, but is not obligated to, order Team B to bat second if, after Team B's first inning, Team A leads by at least 200 runs. Enforcing the follow-on is what is meant by this. Team A will bat in the fourth innings, which are typically played in reverse order from the third and fourth innings. Rarely does a team that is forced to follow-on triumph in the game. Although more than 285 follow-ons have been forced, it has only ever occurred four times in Test cricket. Australia lost three times, twice to England (in 1894 and 1981) and once to India (in 2001), each time being the losing team.
If the first day of a Test match has been completely abandoned due to inclement weather or other factors, such as poor lighting, Team A may enforce the follow-on if Team B's first innings total is 150 or less than Team A's. After the first day of the second test between England and New Zealand at Headingley in 2013 was lost due to rain, England batted first. As New Zealand scored 180 runs less than England while batting second, England could have forced the follow-on but opted not to. In four-day first-class cricket, the follow-on can be imposed if the margin of victory is 150 runs or more. If the Test lasts two days or less, the "follow-on" value is 100 runs.
The captain of the bowling side may, but is not required to, take a new ball after 80 overs. The captain will typically choose the new ball because it is smoother and harder than an old ball, which generally favours faster bowlers who can alter its bounce. An old ball may be more useful for spin bowlers or people who use the reverse swing because of its roughened, softer surface. If the captain wants to keep using his spinners, he can postpone taking the new ball (because the pitch favours spin). If an innings continues for an additional 80 overs after a new ball has been taken, the captain may choose to take another new ball.
One of six scenarios will occur during a Test match to determine the outcome:
- The four innings have ended. The team batting fourth is out after reaching the other team's score, and frequently before doing so. The difference between the total runs scored by the two teams, divided by the team that batted third, determines the winner (for example, "Team A won by 95 runs"). Only twice out of more than 2,000 Test matches played have scores ended level, resulting in a tie.
- The team batting in the fourth inning surpasses the run total of the opposing team. The fourth-batting team wins the game by a margin equal to the number of wickets left in the innings when the game is over (for example, "Team B won by five wickets").
- The team that batted twice is still behind the team that batted once as the third inning comes to a close. Without a fourth innings being played, the game is over. The team that batted just once wins by a margin equal to "an innings" plus the difference between the teams' combined total runs scored (for example, "Team A won by an innings and 26 runs").
- The match's allotted time runs out without a conclusion being reached. This usually happens at the conclusion of the final competition day. The outcome is a draw; regardless of how strongly one side may be positioned, there is no winner. Although matches can be drawn even when the weather is not a factor, most often as a result of poor time management or an intentional effort on the part of one team to avoid losing, rain often causes players to lose playing time.
- The field has been deemed unfit for play, so the game is called off. Three times, a draw has been declared as a result of this: England vs. Australia at Headingley, Leeds, 1975 (vandalism); West Indies vs. England at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, 1998 (risky venue); and West Indies vs. England at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 2009. (dangerous ground).
- A forfeiture is used to award the game. The umpires may award the match to the opposing team if a team declines to enter the playing field. In Test cricket, this has only ever occurred once, during the fourth Test match between England and Pakistan in 2006.