Test cricket's big draw

If you spend more than a minute talking to me about cricket you will realize that I value Test cricket above all other forms of the game. Over the course of the last 15 years I have had to explain (or attempt to explain) the nuances of this fine game to Americans. It is actually simple enough to do so, or maybe I've had considerable practice at it. Either way, for the most part, they get it.

When I tell them that there are three major forms of the game, it is not difficult to explain the 50- and 20-over versions in terms of balls and runs. Since baseball has 9 innings, it is not that big a leap to envision a 2 inning game like Test cricket (the duration boggles the mind, but that obstacle is soon overcome).

The real fun starts when I explain that Test cricket has 4 possible outcomes for a given team. I have no problems putting across the idea of a win, a loss, or a tie. The tricky part comes when I inform them that after 5 days of slugging it out many matches end in a draw. That is when I begin to lose some of them especially since almost everything in life here is judged on the basis of success or failure, win or loss.

For the past few years, in the freshman Biology class that I teach, my students have been exposed to the game (I even devote a portion of one lecture to introducing cricket to them, with a huge boost from Youtube). Earlier this week I was asked why I liked Test cricket above all other forms. I began giving them the standard answer (test of skill, test of mental concentration, real test of a player, etc.) and then realized that any of the varied forms of the game require those skills, sometime more than in Tests.

The uniqueness of Test cricket is two-fold - you get a second chance at redemption in case you botch your first attempt (innings). Secondly, you may be fielding a very inferior team, but there is some hope for you in the form of a draw. You may not be able to beat the other team but you can make life miserable for them by stretching them to a fifth day or even, usually with the help of the weather, draw the match and live to fight another day. Some of the greatest innings ever played have come under such heroic circumstances and resulted in draws.

The allure of Test cricket is the option for a fan that no matter how bleak the situation may be, a draw can be eked out. On such tenuous hopes lie the seeds of Test cricket's enduring appeal to hard-core fans like me.