2000 Tests
Irrepsective of which Cricket statisticians one believes, 2,000 Test matches have now been completed.
The late Bill Frindall, a consummate professional and stickler for detail, was of the belief that the World XI v Australia ‘Supertest’ in Sydney 2005, should not be accorded ‘Test’ status, and his view was shared by several other influential people in the game, meaning the Lord’s Test of 2011 was the 1,999th, despite ICC recording it as the 2,000th.
However, 2,000 Tests have now been completed at Trent Bridge, and what splendid Cricket has been played by England at Lord’s and Trent Bridge to celebrate the milestone.
MCC Groundstaff at Lord's put their feet up, and snack, safe in the knowledge that a superb Pitch will stand the test of time for the 2,000th Test
English Cricket, and Test Cricket in England, is looking very healthy as Test Cricket celebrates another iconic moment. The National side is playing excellent Test Cricket, and are ICC T20 World Champions. England Women’s Team continue to dominate the world game. Participation amongst the younger generation continues to grow apace, especially with girls. Excellent Inter-County Junior Festivals are being played all over the country now the school term has finished, and the 2011 Bunbury ESCA Under 15 Festival has been played at Monmouth School to further acclaim with regard to the quality of the participating young cricketers.
Quite what the Cricket landscape will be when the current crop of 15 year-olds mature fully, and gain International recognition, who knows?
The world is in thrall to Twenty20, but Test Cricket remains the place where ‘serious’ cricketers make or break their professional reputation. It is where the most forensic examination of a player’s technique, temperament, stamina and courage get tested. A series of matches (ideally 5 in number, but rarely in modern schedules) can destroy a cricketer’s career as specific individuals target weaknesses until one opponent collapses under the weight of the examination, sometimes never to return to the fold again. Only the best come again, hardened by their exposure and with greater mental resolve and tighter technique to face future battles.
Graham Gooch is a great example of such. He was rejected after two Tests in 1975, returned in 1978 a better player, and was one of few to have ’handled’ the great West Indian battery of fast bowlers in the ’80s. He dominated Indian spin, neutered Pakistan swing, but was destroyed by Terry Alderman’s swing and seam in 1989. However, he returned to the England team after a period on the sidelines to be one of the world’s best players until retirement.
Others have been more resilient in the face of persoanl battles. Allan Border played a remarkable 153 successive Tests, 93 of them as Captain! Sunil Gavaskar and Mark Waugh also made over 100 consecutive Test Match appearances – a triumph of skill and durability.
The 2,000th Test milestone got me thinking about some of the Test Cricket I have been priviliged to observe since I became fascinated by the game as a young boy growing up in Chelmsford.
My brother Ian (who is 2 years older) and ,I would sit as schoolboys and ‘score’ some of the Tests once Peter West had conducted his pre-match introductions immediately after the famous BBC signature tune had announced the start of the TV programme. Prior to this, we had been engaged in our own ‘Test Match’ in the park behind our house with five other neighbours of similar age. The standard of play and competitiveness was inspired by the desire to mimick the greats we were watching on ‘the magic rectangle’ in the living rooms of our homes.
We played morning, noon and night, with breaks only for Peter West, Richie Benaud, Jim Laker, Denis Compton, Tom Graveney and co, who would describe the action unfolding in front of our very eyes. Unsurprisingly, our hours of devotion to activity and increasing love for the game, enabled us all to become ‘good’ young cricketers. Out of the 7 of us, five played for Essex at junior level, and four represented Essex 2nd XI. Not bad for one small cul-de-sac of 28 homes in Chelmsford, though not as impressive as Matthew Syed (Times Sports Writer, and author of ‘Bounce’) similar Table Tennis story about his childhood road in Reading, which spawned European and world ranked players!
The Australians had Chappell brothers, Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Doug Walters, Max Walker etc. while West Indies’ big name players Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Derryck Murray and Essex’s Keith Boyce. All were our heroes of the day. The West Indies teams under Clive Lloyd (in 1976 and 1980) captivated us, and helped inspire me to become a cricketer.
England’s big names were Geoff Boycott, John Edrich, Alan Knott, John Snow, Bob Willis, Derek Underwood, Essex Captain Keith Fletcher, Ray Illingworth and the charismatic Captain Tony Greig.
I loved the way Garry Sobers dressed, walked, ran, fielded, batted and bowled. I even used to do impersonations of him in my bedroom at night in preparation for our mini ‘Tests’ on Chelmer Park the next morning!
After realising I was average with the ball, and wanting to be in the game all the time, I decided to ‘keep wicket after seeing Alan Knott’s acrobatic catching, eccentric stretching routines, and bright red Slazenger gloves on the big stage. He seemed to personify a love for the game, and was always in the thick of the action. Consequently, Rod Marsh soon became a favorite too. His brilliance in partnership with the great fast bowler Dennis Lillee became England’s nemesis in the period. It seemed like every batsman of the day was dismissed c Marsh b Lillee!
Other prominent ‘names’ from my childhood were India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Farokh Engineer, Bishen Bedi, and Pakistan’s Majid Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Sadiq and Mushtaq Mohammed plus Imran Khan. New Zealand were less glamourous, but I do recall Bev Congdon, Glenn Turner, and Ken Wadsworth as key names. In later years Richard Hadlee, Lance Cairns, John Wright, Geoff Howarth, and Martin Crowe, became more prominent in my consciousness.
The first Test match I went to see was at Lord’s in 1973 for England v Pakistan, and then in 1975 I saw David Steele get lost on his way out to the middle to face Lillee and Thomson. Graham Gooch, a childhood hero of mine, made his first Test runs in this match, having completed ‘a pair’ in the previous Test at Edgbaston on debut.
I watched Viv Richards make his career-best 291 at The Oval in 1976, and was able to watch Bob Willis’s amazing 8 for 43 against Australia at Headingley in 1981 live on TV, as I had been playing for Essex Schools against London Schoools the day before, was unwell, and fortune meant that rather than going to school the next day, I was able to witness some of the most remarkable Cricket ever seen as Bob Willis defied his critics and cricketing logic to bowl England to arguably the greatest Test victory ever.
As a family, we went to the Centenary Test at Lord’s in 1980. On the Saturday, we witnessed MCC members ‘jostle’ the umpires David Constant and Dickie Bird during one of the many inspections of the damp ground which took place in blazing sunshie. Eventually play began and we saw Kim Hughes unfurl some glorious strokes.
I have been fortunate to have witnessed live, Kevin Pietersen’s incredible last day 158 at The Oval to secure the Ashes in 2005; Sachin Tendulkar’s 241 in Steve Waugh’s final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2003; Freddie Flintoff’s match-winning spell from the Pavilion End at Lord’s in 2009; all four days of the pulsating Trent Bridge Ashes Test in 2005; and all four innings in one day at Lord’s in 2000 as England beat West Indies.
I have seen Test Cricket overseas at The Wanderers, and Newlands Cricket Ground in South Africa; the WACA, SCG, MCG, and Adelaide Oval in Australia. I watched the 2009 Ashes Test in Cardiff at the 100th Test Match venue and have seen plenty of Test Cricket at Lord’s down the years including every ball of all five days live of one match – a feat I always wanted to accomplish.
If I had to pick one Test from a lifetime watching the game on TV and live, it would be a close call between the Sydney Test between Australia and South Africa beat Allan Border’s Australians in 1994; the same teams doing battle in Port Elizabeth in 1997 when Australia came out on top; England winning the 2nd Ashes Test at Edgbaston in 2005 after being blown away in the 1st Test at Lord’s; and India’s win at Calcutta in 2001 after following on against Australia.
However, the remarkable turnaround at Headingley in 1981 still confounds me, and is one of the main reasons why I think I fell in love with Test Cricket. The drama was remarkable. The outrageous ‘blacksmith’ batting of Ian Botham, the cerebral captaincy of Mike Brearley, the skilful swing bowling of Ian Botham, and the devaststing fast bowling of Bob Willis made for a heady cocktail, and a win against the odds (of 500-1 for an England victory) at one stage.
Australia’s Captain Kim Hughes never recovered, and Ian Botham’s legacy knew no bounds from this match onwards. The match had it all: legendary players going for each other’s proverbial throats with the most famous sporting rivalry at stake.
The only issue I have with the recording of the 2,000th Test is that the history of the game has refused to acknowledge the Supertests played in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. It may be impossible to do so, but having spoken to many of the participants, they all said that it was the sternest examination of their careers. It seems odd that such comments can be made, yet the matches be regarded as ‘unofficial’.
Test Cricket has a narrative of its own. The twists, turns, drama, and different rhythms of the game, make it addictive for those of us who are in love with it.
