CraigHTest Match Cricket (TMC), the greatest game of all - part 1
November 28th 2006 10:52
With the much vaunted Ashes series in progress in Australia at the moment I thought it would be timely to publish a few musing on the greatness of test match cricket.
When we think of the greatest games of all time we may consider Herman Hesses' Glass Bead Game, Chess or (if you live in Victoria) AFL. But in my opinion test match cricket wins hands down. The game is so broad in its scope that it comprises virtually every human emotion, virtue and vice. It appeals to people from the sprawl of the suburbs to the chug of the jungle, from the drowsy drone of the downs to the urgency of the urbs.
No other game requires such patience. A single match can take five days. Try explaining that to an American. A batsman might bat all day. The opposition may strive for his wicket with one, two, umpteen strategies until they find one which is ultimately successful – or just resign themselves to restricting his run rate.
Cricket also requires a unique level of versatility from its players. No other professional sport pits the best in the business against the bumbling novice – in front of an international audience. When Brett Lee bounds in to send one down at Harmison's throat we are witnessing a unique event in professional sport. Harmison is not a batsman. Lee is one of the select few fast bowlers in the world. Yet for some reason they meet face to face on national television and the hopes of England may be riding on Harmison's ineptitude.
It is this type of contradiction which make TMC a spectacle worth following and a contest worth preserving.
When we think of the greatest games of all time we may consider Herman Hesses' Glass Bead Game, Chess or (if you live in Victoria) AFL. But in my opinion test match cricket wins hands down. The game is so broad in its scope that it comprises virtually every human emotion, virtue and vice. It appeals to people from the sprawl of the suburbs to the chug of the jungle, from the drowsy drone of the downs to the urgency of the urbs.
No other game requires such patience. A single match can take five days. Try explaining that to an American. A batsman might bat all day. The opposition may strive for his wicket with one, two, umpteen strategies until they find one which is ultimately successful – or just resign themselves to restricting his run rate.
Cricket also requires a unique level of versatility from its players. No other professional sport pits the best in the business against the bumbling novice – in front of an international audience. When Brett Lee bounds in to send one down at Harmison's throat we are witnessing a unique event in professional sport. Harmison is not a batsman. Lee is one of the select few fast bowlers in the world. Yet for some reason they meet face to face on national television and the hopes of England may be riding on Harmison's ineptitude.
It is this type of contradiction which make TMC a spectacle worth following and a contest worth preserving.
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