Think Test cricket is boring? Watch the Lords Test to break that myth

If anyone thinks Test cricket is a bore, they must watch the ongoing India v England Anderson Tendulkar trophy tour. Apart from the fact that the game itself has been elevated to an ethereal level by sublime batting performances from a young Indian side and some excellent bowling performances all round, the on-field antics have been nothing short of box-office.

Apart from the fact that the Indian side has a very young skipper and the team’s average age is just about 30 – the older player is Ravindra Jadeja at 36 – and has a very charged up attitude, the English team also has low average age and a point to prove in every session of the matches in front of its home crowd. All this has led to a very emotionally charged atmosphere on the ground, which makes for a thrilling watch.

Dukes Ball Controversy

Part of the expressive competitiveness is also due to the controversy around the Dukes ball that is being used. Both teams have complained that the ball goes soft much quicker than other brands, losing shape, shine and bounce which makes it tough for opening fast bowlers to hit their target. Rules say that a ball can only be changed after 80 overs, but this tour has seen several ball changes much earlier than that. This has created a lot of friction among the two teams as well between players and umpires.

On day 2, a very animated Indian skipper Shubhman Gill and bowler Mohammed Siraj made their displeasure very visible when the ball that was changed appeared to be older than the original. Their unhappiness appeared justified when the changed ball moved much less off the pitch and in the air than the earlier one. England added more than a 100 for the last three wickets after that change.

On day 3, it was England’s turn to do the same with the umpires. Opening bowler Joffra Archer asked for a ball change but the umpires deemed it to be in good enough shape to be used. Archer again was visibly displeased with that decision. Every time a ball check or change happens, it not only disrupts the flow of the game and breaks the concentration of the players, it also reduces the number of overs that are allotted to be played in a day. In the first three days at Lord’s, the game lost as many as 32 overs.

Apart from the frequent ball changes, there were several personality clashes on the pitch as well. Siraj, even normally very involved and expressive, had several run-ins with the England batters, which the live broadcast producers replayed with relish to relive the drama. A lot of those also went viral on social media.

Time Wasting Tactics

One of the most entertaining strategic game-plays was at the end of day 3, when England returned to bat for their second innings. There was little time left till the end of play and the batters had clearly come with a plan to ensure that India get no more than one more over. Bumrah was the bowler and he was on the spot from the first delivery. First Zak Crawley held up play because he thought there was someone blocking the sightscreen behind the bowler’s arm. Bumrah had to redo his run up after Crawley finally settled down. Then a snorter from Bumrah hit Crawley on the finger and he sent for the physio straightaway. This riled up the Indian team, with Gill walking up to Crawley and very audibly giving him a piece of his mind, as did a few of the other players. Ben Duckett at the other end had to come but only added fuel instead of calming it down. When Crawley finally decided to return to the crease, the Indian team gave him a mocking ovation.

This favour was then returned to India when at the end of day 4, night watchman Akash Deep too called in the physio after being hit by a brutal Carse delivery on the inside leg. This time it was captain Ben Stoke’s turn to clap sarcastically at K L Rahul for ‘time wasting’. The last laugh was with Stokes, who cleaned up Akash with a wicket-shattering delivery, swinging the game back towards England.

All this drama made very entertaining watching for audiences on the ground and on TV – all of which adding to the mystique of Test cricket and making it far more entertaining that what it appears to be on paper.