Why Test cricket kicks IPL arse

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Two simultaneous Test matches are perfect demonstrations of why Test cricket is and always will be the greatest form of the game. England play New Zealand while Australia play the West Indies - both games are heading into Day 5 and both are poised on a knife edge with 4 results possible in either!

England are chasing 218 runs with 9 wickets in hand. The hurdle? Daniel Vettori. Considering the English talent for facing spin bowling and their prelidiction for choking, I fancy New Zealand as favourites with England batting ultra-defensive for a draw as the second likeliest result. Go the Kiwis!

The West Indies have come back magnificently against Australia. At one point on Day 4, they had us reeling at 5 for 18. You read that right, 5 wickets for 18 runs! It was Australia's worst top order figures since 1936. That's right, we're talking pre-war era. Hitler was coming into his own.

So the Windies need 241 runs on Day 5 with 9 wickets in hand. It's a big ask. Normally, I would pick Australia to win comfortably, a draw an unlikely result. But there's the Macgill factor. By rights, he should clean up on the wearing pitch. But Gorilla is an enigmatic beast. All those waist high full tosses could see the Windies come dangerously close to chasing down the runs. My money's on Australia but it should be an engrossing day's play. If only the time difference between Brisbane and Kingston weren't so stark.

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Posted by JC on Mon 26 May

2 comments

JC, You have said it right, test cricket is the real cricket and nothing can take its place. ODI,six a side, 20-20 all for the money makers, nothing can beat the strategies,brain games and the drama that a test match can provide. Chanderpaul getting hit by a bouncer and standing up for cause of his team, well tell me can you get that kind of drama else where No way.. Couldn't catch up the game with Long weekend outings :(

Cheers, Mahesh

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Posted by Unsuidojo on 2008-05-27 12:06:00

There are comebacks in Twenty20 too, but so much happens in such a short space of time that it is hard to keep track of everything. A glance at the first innings scorecard in an IPL game and you will have missed half an over. Everything happens in a flash, so it is often hard to remember that the side chasing, say, 50 off the last 24 balls had conceded 100 from their first 8 overs, and were consequently doing well to be back in the game. All that registers in the brain is a series of wickets and boundary hits; there is no time to appreciate the long-term narrative that any cricket match constitutes.

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Posted by paperhouse on 2008-06-05 03:14:50

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