A Very Welcome Revolution

And Wounded Buffalo in Dhaka

    One aspect of the last few months has become crystal clear – absence does make the heart grow fonder. There was no Test cricket played anywhere in the world for over 100 days earlier this year as everyone focussed on the white ball and T20 World Cup, but it’s back in gloriously full swing now.

    Two of the most extraordinary and unlikely victories in the game’s history were achieved within days of each other as India’s second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur lost its entire second and third days to rain after a severely curtailed first day. Desperate to win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the final of the World Test Championship, India smashed 285-9 declared in just in just 34.4 overs, bowled the Tigers out cheaply a second time and then chased down the 95 they needed for victory in 17.2 overs.

    Just as memorable was England’s opening victory against Pakistan in Multan last week where they became the first team in history to concede a first innings total of over 550 and then win by an innings. (I said the victory was memorable rather than much of the actual cricket on a deplorable pitch.)

    The hosts spent the first five sessions of the match compiling a total of 556 only to see the tourists reply with an eye-watering 823-7 in which Harry Brook became the sixth Englishman to score a triple-century (317) with the prolific Joe Root (262) also making his career best. They scored the runs at over five to the over whereas India’s run rate across both innings was above seven.

    Bewildering and impressive as the records and statistics of these achievements are, it is more the audacity of thinking and the stretching of the constraints on what has, for over a century, been thought to be possible that will make the greatest impact on the greatest format of the game. 

    Pakistan, winless in 11 straight Tests, are currently in no position to up their tempo in pursuit of entertainment but India’s series against New Zealand and the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia are mouth-watering prospects, as is England’s trip to New Zealand for another three Tests in December.

    Aiden Markram, who will captain South Africa in the first Test in Dhaka on October 21, agrees that there is an air of inevitability about the way Test cricket is being played and is disinclined to buck the trend: “I think the game is moving in that direction, for sure, with so much white ball cricket being played. Rather run with that momentum than fight it,” he said on the eve of departure.

    “But there are definitely still times when you have to get ‘stuck in’ and do the hard work if needs be done – but then, hopefully, you are able to transfer the pressure through a good scoring rate.”

  Call it a revolution if you like, but Test cricket needed this new approach. The reverence reserved for the five-day game stifled it for decades. For a century players were taught that it was better to draw than risk defeat in pursuit of victory. Ben Stokes shocked the establishment when he said “the draw is off the table” at the start of his captaincy. He’s lived up to the mantra too and, boy, are they compelling to watch, even when they mess up.

    The current Test ‘window’ appears to have happened by happy accident. If only it could be bolted in place allowing players and coaches to plan their careers and the administrators who care about the format to organise a little more of it. In South Africa the move to four-day Tests simply must happen allowing for three-match series to be played in three weeks, Thursday to Sunday. CSA chief executive, Pholetsi Moseki, said the subject had been discussed and would be again when the next FTP cycle is negotiated.

    Practise matches, once believed to be a critical factor before Test tours, have now been dispensed with. The belief that professional cricketers could not adapt their games to different formats without playing meaningless warm-up games is passe. Rather use the time for the real thing – they are, after all, professionals. Career musicians can play Mozart and jazz back-to-back.

+   I won’t be in Dhaka or Chattogram for the Tests as I will be commentating on England’s ODI series against the West Indies for TalkSport. But allow me to reintroduce Jonathan Knowles to you, an avid follower and adventurer (and one of the first paid subscribers to this column) and a man I know well enough to coerce into becoming our eyes and ears on the ground in Bangladesh. Here we are in Mumbai and Long Island at the last two World Cups.

    Jonathan managed to get himself a decent rate at the prestigious Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka which is just as well because it charges tourists like a wounded buffalo for food and drinks! It is usually where the touring teams stay so perhaps he’ll be able to persuade Shukri Conrad to buy him a mutton biryani on team expenses.

    Alternatively, please feel free to buy Jon (or me) a coffee. Or even, if you can afford £4 a month, join him as a paid subscriber. I look forward to sharing his experience with you.

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