Under a dark sapphire sky, tearing across grass as green as a lick of new paint, Mitchell Starc raced in to launch the first ball of the latest Australia vs India Test series last Friday. The murmur from the crowd of more than 30,000 at Perth’s Optus Stadium grew louder with every stride the tall, lean quickie took as he neared his point of delivery… is there anything more exciting than Test cricket at its best?
In countries that still take the five-day game seriously, big crowds still
fill big arenas
Most sporting contests start slowly – the cautious boxers circling each other, the centre forward tapping the ball backwards from the kick-off. But Test cricket – dozy old Test cricket, a five-day yawnfest you might think from what you hear about the future of the game – is different. The first ball is a signature delivery, a warning to the opposition of what is to come.
Starc, a fearsome left-armer, has form of course. Just ask Rory Burns, the Surrey captain, bowled behind his legs with the first ball of the 2021 Ashes series in Brisbane, an inswinging ripper from the jubilant Starc. Starc tried it again last Friday against another left-hander, the 22-year-old genius that is Yashasvi Jaiswal, but this time the ball didn’t swing in and rocketed past for four byes.
It’s scenes like these – with the excitement potentially replicated every time a ball is bowled – that make you wonder why Test cricket is seen as being moribund. Five days, the theory goes, is simply too long in this age when gratification has to be instantly served up, and when people don’t have the time to go to watch cricket on Monday afternoons.
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