Test cricket and its blessings

A lot is being spoken about the situation world cricket has gotten itself into. This isn’t the first time that cricket has found itself in a transitional phase. The first time was way back when ODI cricket was first introduced; the change was gentle and gradual. It also didn’t really hamper the interest people showed in Test Match Cricket. The current transition is much more turbulent and abrupt. With the advent of T20 cricket, Test cricket has been receiving lesser and lesser attention; that the experts are worrying that it would probably disappear into nothingness. While there are many concerns about cricket adapting the club culture, which was sampled at the IPL, more are concerned about the implications that it would have on the formats. Whether club cricket is here to stay, or it’s just a passing cloud, time alone can tell.

However there are several reasons why test cricket must survive the threat. Even a casual observer would notice two kinds of batsmen in cricket, the one who plays himself in, and then plays a long solid innings and the other who comes in, fires away and leaves before you even knew he was there.

While the latter has every opportunity to shine in the shorter formats, the former struggles a wee bit. Talent lies in both the kinds; it is only fair to provide either with an opportunity. In addition to the ability to hit the ball, most types are expected to be masters of one more aspect of batting: placement. In limited over games, a lot of fielding restrictions come into play making it easier and easier to put the ball through the gaps. One’s ability to place the ball accurately is brought out most beautifully in 5 day cricket. Taking the batsmen out of the limelight for once, one must spare a thought to the ordeal the bowlers are put through in most of the T20 matches. With the ball disappearing all over the park, the bowlers can only stand back and watch. A spell from a bowler, in test matches, is usually about 10 overs. Limiting the number of overs they get to bowl in an entire match to 10 or worse still, 4, most bowlers have bowled out their quota before they even get into their rhythm.

No other format of the game has put the fitness of cricketers to such a tough test.

Many cricketers seemed to have given up on this format alone, citing fitness concern. The likes of Jacob Oram and Andrew Flintoff bid the sorry farewell for the very same reasons.

Cricketers who have made it big in the shorter versions of the game, haven’t necessarily shone in its longest format. One of the prime examples is India’s most high profile new-generation batsman, Yuvraj Singh. Famed for being the one of the few batsmen who hit six sixes in an over in international cricket, Yuvraj has always been in and out of the test squad.

This is because test cricket is more than just about raw power. One requires to have an excellent sense of precision, balance, timing, shot selection: all put together with loads of patience and a good cricketing mind.

When I talk about test cricket, I have been quite liberal in the use of the phrase, “It has a little bit in it for everyone!” It actually does. Test cricket has kept the cricketing mind of its viewers constantly ticking. Every ball bowled, every fallen wicket, every run taken opens up numerous possibilities, and trust it to be true when people tell you, it’s most enjoyable to just be able to go on and on about them.

So there is a reason after all for the oldest, purest form of the gentleman’s game to survive. The ball is now in the ICC’s ‘half of the pitch’. We’ll just have to hope that the men who matter don’t have their stumps knocked over.