Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days. It is generally considered the ultimate test of playing ability and endurance in the sport.[1][2][3] The origin of the name test stems from the fact that the long, grueling match is a "test" of the relative strength of the two sides.[4]
The first officially recognised Test match commenced on 15 March 1877, contested by England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where Australia won by 45 runs.[5] England won the second match (also at the MCG) by four wickets, thus drawing the series 1–1.[6] This was not the first international cricket match, however. That was played between Canada and the United States, on 24 and 25 September 1844.[7]
A Test match to celebrate 100 years of Test cricket was held in Melbourne from 12 to 17 March 1977. In this match, Australia beat England by 45 runs, the same margin as the first Test match in 1877, which the 1977 match was commemorating.[8]
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Test matches are a subset of first-class cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Conference (ICC). As of 2011[update], ten national teams have Test status, the most recent being Bangladesh in 2000. Zimbabwe was a Test nation, but voluntarily suspended their test status due to poor performance. The team made its return on 4 August 2011 against Bangladesh.[9]
A list of matches defined as Tests was first drawn up by Australian Clarence Moody in the 1890s. Representative matches played by simultaneous England touring sides of 1911–12 (in Australia and South Africa) and 1929–30 (in the West Indies and New Zealand) are deemed to have Test status.
In 1970, a series of five "Test matches" was played in England between England and a Rest of the World XI. These matches were originally scheduled to be contested by England and South Africa, but were amended after South Africa were suspended from international cricket due to their government's policy of apartheid. Although initially given unofficial Test status (and included as Test matches in some record books, notably Wisden), this was later withdrawn and a principle was established that official Test matches can only be between nations. The series of "Test matches" played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971/72 do not have Test status. The commercial "Supertests" organised by Kerry Packer as part of his World Series Cricket enterprise and played between "WSC Australia", "WSC World XI" and "WSC West Indies" from 1977 to 1979 have never been regarded as having official Test match status.
In 2005 the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place in October 2005 between Australia and a World XI was an official Test match. This ICC decision was taken despite precedent (e.g. the ICC's earlier ruling on the 1970 England v Rest of the World series) that only matches between nations should be given Test match status. Many cricket writers and statisticians, particularly Bill Frindall, have decided to ignore the ICC's ruling and have excluded the 2005 match from their records.
Leading English cricketers first visited a foreign country in 1789, when John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, organised a tour of France. However, this was swiftly abandoned due to the French Revolution. Sides designated as "England" began to play in the late 18th century, but these teams were not truly representative. William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven in 1846, and this was the first representative England side, which toured the country taking on local sides.
Jemmy Dean and John Wisden formed a rival team, the United All-England Eleven, in 1852. Matches between Wisden's team and Clarke's quickly became the highlight of the cricketing year. A side comprising six players from each team toured North America in 1859, which was highly successful.
By 1861, the year of the next tour, the United States was plagued by Civil War, so the cricketers headed to Australia instead. They then visited both Australia and New Zealand in 1863/64. The Australians reciprocated, as the Australian Aborigines became the first cricketers to tour England in 1868. The English visited North America again later that year and again in 1872.
Two rival tours were vying to become the first official test tour, with James Lillywhite campaigning for a professional tour and Fred Grace for an amateur one. Grace's tour fell through, though, and it was Lillywhite's understrength team that toured New Zealand and Australia in 1876/77. Two matches against a combined Australian XI became the first official test matches. The first test was won by Australia, by 45 runs.
The Australians then toured England and North America in 1878, leading to more official tests against the English. England returned to Australia in 1878–79 for a one off test match, and when the Australians came to England in 1880, a firm pattern of tours was established.
A team of Lillywhite, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury financed England's next tour to North America and Australia, in 1881/2, and it was during this tour that the first accusations of match fixing appeared, during England's match against a Victoria XI.
The legend of the Ashes was established during the Australian tour of England in 1882. An easy England victory disappeared in the closing stages thanks to some incredible bowling from Australia's Fred Spofforth, seemingly in response to unsportsmanlike behaviour earlier in the game from WG Grace. A mock obituary was published in the Sporting Times the following day, mourning the death of English cricket, as this was the first time that an England team had lost on home soil. The phrase in the obituary "The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" led the creation of the Ashes urn. England reclaimed the Ashes at the first attempt, during their tour of Australia in 1882/3.
England would be the first team to retain the Ashes when Australia visited them in 1884. They won one and drew two in a heavily rain disrupted series. England would win yet again as Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury organised another tour to Australia in 1884/5. The series, which was the first to be held over five matches, as we know it today, was won 3–2 by England. Shaw, writing in 1901, considered this side to be "the best ever to have left England".
England then took the first ever Ashes white wash, as they defeated the Australians 3–0 at home in 1886. WG Grace scored an English record 170 at the Oval during this series. The next tour, in Australia in 1886/7, was poorly promoted and poorly attended, not helped by the fact that the victorious England team was considered to play unattractive cricket.
Chaos descended on English cricket in the Australian summer of 1887/8, as Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury organised their customary tour, at the invitation of the Melbourne Cricket Club, while a rival tour, that of the future Lord Hawke, was invited by their Sydney counterparts. Eventually, neither of these sides matches against Australia were to be considered test matches. They did, however, unite for one match in Sydney, which England, captained by Walter Read, won.
Many considered the next team to leave Australia, that of 1888, was considered by many to be worst ever to do so. However, they won all four of their warm up matches and the first test of the series. This was the first time they had won in England since the match that started the Ashes legend six years earlier. However, England won the next two and the series.
The first ever test series not to involve Australia occurred in 1888/9, as an understrength England side toured South Africa. The South Africans, however, lost both the tests in Port Elizabeth.
The Australian tour of England in 1890 was known as the battle of the greats. The rivalry between English captain WG Grace and his opposite number Billy Murdoch was hotly anticipated. England continued their winning streak however, winning the first two tests. The third test, held at Old Trafford, became the first test to abandoned entirely because of rain, so England secured the series undefeated.
Lord Sheffield led England to Australia in 1891–92, and what was considered to be a very strong England team succumbed to their first series defeat for some years.
There are currently ten Test-playing teams, the majority of which are individual nations (except for England and the West Indies).
Test status is conferred upon a country or group of countries by the International Cricket Council. Teams that do not have Test status can only officially play a shortened version of cricket, except in events such as the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which was specifically designed to allow non-Test teams to play under conditions similar to Tests. The teams are listed below with the date of each team's Test debut:
| Order | Test team | Date of first Test Match | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 15 March 1877 | At the time represented all of Britain. Now officially represents England and Wales. |
| 2 | Australia | 15 March 1877 | |
| 3 | South Africa | 12 March 1889 | Did not participate in international cricket between 10 March 1970 and 10 November 1991. This was due to a decision by the International Cricket Conference in 1970 to suspend South Africa, in response to the then South African Government's policy of apartheid. |
| 4 | West Indies | 23 June 1928 | Consists of players from a number of Caribbean nations and dependencies.[10] |
| 5 | New Zealand | 10 January 1930 | |
| 6 | India | 25 June 1932 | Before partition of India in 1947, included territory that now forms Pakistan and Bangladesh. |
| 7 | Pakistan | 16 October 1952 | Before Bangladeshi independence in 1971, included territory that is now Bangladesh. |
| 8 | Sri Lanka | 17 February 1982 | |
| 9 | Zimbabwe | 18 October 1992 | Suspended from involvement in Test cricket between 10 June 2004 and 6 January 2005, and from 18 January 2006 until 3 August 2011 |
| 10 | Bangladesh | 10 November 2000 |
In 2003, the ICC announced its intention to confer Test status upon Kenya in the near future. Kenyan cricket has been through difficulties since then . Ireland has stated its intention to apply for Full Membership of the ICC with the aim of achieving Test status.[11] Afghanistan has also stated its intentions to play Test cricket in the future,[12] although the current security situation and lack of proper facilities, as well as a fledging domestic structure make this aim hard to achieve.
Test cricket is played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days (though finishing earlier if a result is reached before the maximum time). On each day there are usually three two-hour sessions, with a forty minute break for "lunch" and a twenty minute break for "tea". For example, in England, common times of play are as follows:
In addition, short breaks (5 minutes) may be taken during each session for "drinks", commonly after an hour of play. A 10 minute interval is also taken between changes of innings.
The times of sessions and intervals may be altered in certain circumstances, for example:
In the early days of the game, Test matches were played over three or four days. Up until the 1980s, it was usual to include a 'rest day', often on the Sunday. There have also been 'Timeless Tests', which did not end after a predetermined maximum time. In 2005 Australia played a six-day match against a World XI, which the ICC sanctioned as an official Test match even though the match reached a conclusion on the fourth day. There have been attempts by the ICC, the sports governing body, to introduce day-night Test Matches.[16]
Test cricket is played in "innings" (the word denotes both the singular and the plural). In each innings, one team bats and the other bowls (or fields). Ordinarily four innings are played in a Test match, such that each team bats twice and bowls twice.
To decide which team bats first, prior to the start of play on the first day, the two team captains and the match referee meet at the centre of the wicket for a coin toss. The home captain will toss the coin, with the visiting captain calling either "Heads" or "Tails" while the coin is in the air. The captain who wins the toss has the privilege of deciding whether his team will bat or bowl first.
In the following scenarios, the team that bats first is referred to as "Team A", and their opponents as "Team B".
Usually the teams will alternate at the completion of each innings. Thus, Team A will bat (and Team B will bowl) until its innings comes to a close, at which point Team B will commence its first batting innings and Team A will bowl. At the completion of Team B’s innings, the same sequence repeats for each team’s second innings. A team’s score for the match is the combined total of runs scored in each of its innings.
A team's innings may be completed in one of the following ways:[17]
Law 12.1(b) also makes provision for teams to agree, before the match, to limit the length of an innings to a prescribed number of overs or length of time; however, this Law does not apply to Test cricket.[18]
Clearly, a team will also cease batting if the game ends (i.e.: if a result is achieved, or the maximum time limit is reached).
If, at the completion of its first innings, Team B’s first innings total falls short of Team A’s first innings total by at least 200 runs, the captain of Team A may (but is not required to) order Team B to follow on.[19] If he does so, Team B must commence its second batting innings immediately, that is, before Team A commences its second innings. Thus, the usual order of the third and fourth innings is reversed: Team B will bat in the third innings, and Team A will bat in the fourth.
It is extremely rare for a team forced to follow on to win the match. Out of over 285 follow-ons enforced in the history of Test cricket, the following-on team has come back to win the match only three times, and Australia was the losing team on each occasion: twice to England, in 1894 and in 1981, and once to India in 2001.[20]
After 80 overs, the captain of the bowling side has the option to take a new ball.[21] A new ball, which is harder and smoother than an old ball, generally favours fast bowlers who can make it bounce at a greater range of (unpredictable) heights and speeds. The roughened, softer surface of an old ball is more conducive to spin bowlers or those using reverse swing. The captain may delay the decision to take the new ball if he wishes to continue with his spinners (because the pitch favours spin), but most regard the new ball as an opportunity to introduce new life into the bowling and more chances of taking wickets. Should an innings last a further 80 overs after a new ball has been taken, the captain will again have the option to take another new ball.
A Test match may end in one of seven scenarios:
Test cricket is almost always played as a series of matches between two countries, with all matches in the series taking place in the same country (the host). The number of matches in a series varies from one to six. Often there is a perpetual trophy traded between a pair of teams when series between them are won or lost (the most famous of these being the Ashes contested between England and Australia). There have been two exceptions to the bilateral nature of Test cricket: the 1912 Triangular Tournament, a three-way competition between England, Australia and South Africa (hosted by England), and the Asian Test Championship, an event held in 1998–99 and 2001–02.
Until recently Test series between international teams were organised between the two national cricket organisations with umpires provided by the home team. However, with the entry of more countries into Test cricket competition, and a wish by the ICC to maintain public interest in Tests (which was flagging in many countries with the introduction of one-day cricket), a new system was added to Test match competition. A rotation system that sees all ten Test teams playing each other over a six-year cycle, and an official ranking system (with a trophy held by the highest-ranked team) were introduced. It was hoped by the ICC that the new ranking system would help maintain interest in Test cricket in nations where one-day cricket is more popular.
In the new system, umpires are provided by the ICC. An elite panel of eleven umpires has been established, and the panel is supplemented by an additional International Panel that includes three umpires named by each Test-playing country. The elite umpires officiate almost all Test matches (usually not a Test involving their home country); the International Panel is only employed when the cricketing calendar is filled with activity, or for one-day internationals (ODIs).
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