Test Cricket

"One-day cricket is an exhibition. Test cricket is an examination." Henry Blofeld

Both cricket's oldest official format, and the version of the game with the longest match duration (a maximum of 5 days), Test Cricket is considered the sport's highest standard. As the name suggests, this long, and often gruelling, form of cricket is designed to be the ultimate "test" for players – physically and mentally.

📜 Test Cricket History

The first officially recognized Test match took place as far back as March 1877, when England took on Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground. A pattern of Test match tours was soon established with Australia regularly travelling to England for fixtures and vice versa. This was the beginning of The Ashes – a Test match series still played today, and Test cricket’s first great rivalry.

In 1888, South Africa became the third county to play Test cricket when they hosted a series with England. It was the beginning of a global expansion phase for what is widely recognised as cricket’s purest and most challenging form of the game.

As of 2023, a total of 12 international sides have been awarded "Test status" by the International Cricket Council (ICC), meaning they can take part in Test cricket at the highest level, on the world stage.

💯 Test Cricket Format & Scoring

Experiments with shorter Test matches have taken place over the years, but at present, international Test cricket matches generally last up to 5 days. Each of these days is split into 3 sessions, with short breaks for lunch and tea in between.

Test cricket is played in "innings". In each innings, one team bats and the other team bowls/fields. The batting team aims to score as many runs as possible, while the bowling team aims to limit their score by preventing runs and getting their opponents "all out". This is achieved when 10 members of the opposing team have been "dismissed" by being bowled, caught, stumped, run out, or otherwise deemed "out" by any other method.

Ultimately, once both teams have batted, the team with the highest cumulative score from their 2 innings is the winner. Other eventualities are possible, for example, on some occasions, a team may only need one innings to beat their opponents' 2-innings score. Alternatively, if no result is achieved once the 5 days' playing time has expired, the match is deemed a draw.