Test cricket

Test cricket

Test cricket is the sport of cricket with the longest match duration. It is generally considered the most complete examination of a team’s endurance and ability. The first officially recognised Test match took place between 15 and 19 March 1877 and was played between England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In October 2012, the ICC recast the playing conditions for Test matches, permitting daynight Test matches. As of June 2017, twelve national teams have Test status, the most recently promoted being Afghanistan and Ireland on 22 June 2017.

About Test cricket in brief

Summary Test cricketTest cricket is the sport of cricket with the longest match duration. It is generally considered the most complete examination of a team’s endurance and ability. The first officially recognised Test match took place between 15 and 19 March 1877 and was played between England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In October 2012, the ICC recast the playing conditions for Test matches, permitting daynight Test matches. As of June 2017, twelve national teams have Test status, the most recently promoted being Afghanistan and Ireland on 22 June 2017. There are currently twelve men’s teams that have been granted this status. The teams with Test status are: Most of these teams represent independent sovereign nations. The exceptions are the England cricket team, which represents the constituent countries of England and Wales; the West Indies, a combined team from fifteen Caribbean nations and territories; and Ireland, representing both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Zimbabwe’s Test status was voluntarily suspended in 2006 because of poor performances. The ICC has made several proposals to reform the system of granting Test status. Unimplemented proposals include having two tiers with promotion and relegation, or a play off between the winners of the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the team with the lowest Test ranking. For statistical purposes, Tests are considered a subset of first-class cricket. Performances in Test matches count towards the first- class statistical record, but not towards the Test record.

In 1970, a series of five Tests was considered to have been ‘Test matches’ The first list of matches to be considered Tests was drawn up by Clarence Moody, an Australian, in the mid-1890s. These matches were scheduled between England and a Rest of the World XI, originally scheduled between 1891–92 and 1929–30. The series of 1884–85 was the first to be held over five matches: England player Alfred Shaw, writing in 1901, considered the side to be \”the best ever to have left England\”. South Africa became the third team to play Test cricket in 1888–89, when they hosted a tour by an under-strength England side. The Ashes was established as a competition during the Australian tour of England in 1882. A surprise victory for Australia inspired a mock obituary of English cricket to be published in the Sporting Times the following day: the phrase \”The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia\” prompted the subsequent creation of the Ashes urn. The most recent Test to be played in December 2015 was between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, on 27 November – 1 December 2015. The match was won by Australia, by 45 runs and the second by England. The matches were later classified as the first official Test matches by the International Cricket Council (ICC) The first Test match was played in 1844 between USA and Canada, on 24 and 25 September 1844. This has never been officially considered a \”Test match\”. For statistical reasons, Test matches are considered to be the first class cricket.