With Tests like these, Twenty20 seems tepid
Two riveting matches played over the past two weeks may have given Test cricket the kiss of life it so badly needs.
Memonics
Two riveting matches played over the past two weeks may have given Test cricket — under serious threat from Twenty20 for spectator and sponsor approval — the kiss of life it so badly needs.
India chased down 387 breezily on a wearing Chennai pitch to stymie England’s victory bid last week. Perhaps even more sensationally, South Africa beat Australia at Perth on Sunday by making a whopping target of 414 seem like a stroll in the woods.
While both India and South Africa won by six wickets respectively, the margin of victory does not quite reveal the intrigue and drama, the absorbing ebb and flow of fortune that defined every hour, every day of these two contests. What emerged from these was not just extraordinary performances and results, but perhaps also a new ethos for Test cricket in the 21st century.
When Don Bradman’s Invincibles had incredibly chased 404 in the fourth innings against England in 1948, it seemed that record would stand the test of time. It did, for 28 years, till India made 406 to beat the West Indies in 1976. In the past 15 years, however, 400-plus fourth innings targets have been knocked down successfully twice (West Indies versus Australia in 2003, and South Africa on Sunday), not to mention a host of other stiff 300-plus targets, including India’s win over England at Chennai which was the fourth best of all-time.
Nine of the 25 highest run chases have come since 2000, statistics reveal, which clearly shows a skew or trend. Significantly, the ratio of results to draws has also shown a dramatic upswing in the past decade. Indeed, this year has been the best ever (yet, since the outcome of three Tests is still awaited) with 34 out of 43 matches yielding results.
What explains this? Inclusion of weak teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh has obviously boosted the over all results tally, but it is also true that in the ‘upper echelons’ of the game the contest between players and teams has become keener, often spectacular. Better quality willow has obviously made batting that much easier, but bowling skills have surely not diminished if you consider that some of the highest wicket-takers with fantastic strike rates are all from this era: Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Glen McGrath, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald to name a few.
Moreover, fielding standards have reached astonishing levels too, so batsmen don’t enjoy too much advantage as assumed.
What has clearly changed is the mindset of players. Modern cricket, and especially in this millennium, is being defined more by adventurism and opportunism than conservatism. Rewards — of money and fame — have grown dramatically, leading to greater expression of both individuality and collective excellence.
Time-held game theories are being turned on their head as captains and players experiment and improvise to win one-on-one battles, sessions of play, and through these also matches. The derring-do necessitated by one-day and Twenty20 cricket, to be fair, has also contributed substantially in cricketers ‘opening up’ to challenge old dictums. The new one could be a line borrowed from a commercial: Impossible is nothing.
Meanwhile, the fact that Australia have now lost two successive Tests at Perth, considered the graveyard for touring teams, apart form a 0-2 hiding in India, has busted their aura of invincibility and Test cricket now heads for perhaps its most exciting phase in the New Year with four or five teams believing that they could be numero uno.
Whether all this can resurrect Test cricket to pristine position is a moot question, but for those who cherish such cricketing values, the magic is still alive.
Two riveting matches played over the past two weeks may have given Test cricket — under serious threat from Twenty20 for spectator and sponsor approval — the kiss of life it so badly needs.
India chased down 387 breezily on a wearing Chennai pitch to stymie England’s victory bid last week. Perhaps even more sensationally, South Africa beat Australia at Perth on Sunday by making a whopping target of 414 seem like a stroll in the woods.
While both India and South Africa won by six wickets respectively, the margin of victory does not quite reveal the intrigue and drama, the absorbing ebb and flow of fortune that defined every hour, every day of these two contests. What emerged from these was not just extraordinary performances and results, but perhaps also a new ethos for Test cricket in the 21st century.
When Don Bradman’s Invincibles had incredibly chased 404 in the fourth innings against England in 1948, it seemed that record would stand the test of time. It did, for 28 years, till India made 406 to beat the West Indies in 1976. In the past 15 years, however, 400-plus fourth innings targets have been knocked down successfully twice (West Indies versus Australia in 2003, and South Africa on Sunday), not to mention a host of other stiff 300-plus targets, including India’s win over England at Chennai which was the fourth best of all-time.
Nine of the 25 highest run chases have come since 2000, statistics reveal, which clearly shows a skew or trend. Significantly, the ratio of results to draws has also shown a dramatic upswing in the past decade. Indeed, this year has been the best ever (yet, since the outcome of three Tests is still awaited) with 34 out of 43 matches yielding results.
What explains this? Inclusion of weak teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh has obviously boosted the over all results tally, but it is also true that in the ‘upper echelons’ of the game the contest between players and teams has become keener, often spectacular. Better quality willow has obviously made batting that much easier, but bowling skills have surely not diminished if you consider that some of the highest wicket-takers with fantastic strike rates are all from this era: Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Glen McGrath, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald to name a few.
Moreover, fielding standards have reached astonishing levels too, so batsmen don’t enjoy too much advantage as assumed.
What has clearly changed is the mindset of players. Modern cricket, and especially in this millennium, is being defined more by adventurism and opportunism than conservatism. Rewards — of money and fame — have grown dramatically, leading to greater expression of both individuality and collective excellence.
Time-held game theories are being turned on their head as captains and players experiment and improvise to win one-on-one battles, sessions of play, and through these also matches. The derring-do necessitated by one-day and Twenty20 cricket, to be fair, has also contributed substantially in cricketers ‘opening up’ to challenge old dictums. The new one could be a line borrowed from a commercial: Impossible is nothing.
Meanwhile, the fact that Australia have now lost two successive Tests at Perth, considered the graveyard for touring teams, apart form a 0-2 hiding in India, has busted their aura of invincibility and Test cricket now heads for perhaps its most exciting phase in the New Year with four or five teams believing that they could be numero uno.
Whether all this can resurrect Test cricket to pristine position is a moot question, but for those who cherish such cricketing values, the magic is still alive.