Test cricket can be magical

Who said Test cricket was dead? The West Indies won a thriller in the Pink Test against Australia in Brisbane by just eight runs yesterday – their first Test win in Australia in 27 years – and the opening of five Tests between powerhouses India and England in Hyderabad took an interesting twist after the visitors turned the match on its head courtesy of Ollie Pope’s wonderful knock of 196 in the second innings. Set 231 runs for victory, India succumbed to 202 all out after England erased a first innings deficit of 190 with 420 runs of their own in the second innings to win by 28 runs.

But it’s at the Gabba in Australia “where it was all happening”, to quote former Aussie commentator and captain Bill Lawry. Australia, the world’s No 1 Test team playing against the greenest of green West Indies touring team, looked as though they were coasting, entering the fourth day needing just 156 runs with eight wickets in the bank. It seemed a formality.

But the Windies had other ideas. Enter Shamar Joseph, the 24-year-old fast bowler who had played just a handful of first-class matches before making his Test debut this month. He was discovered in the remote village of Baracara, with a population of 350 people, in deepest Guyana.

In the first Test, he picked up the prized scalp of Steve Smith with his first ball and finished on the losing end with a five-wicket haul. Yesterday, he said he wasn’t even going to come to the ground after his toe was shattered by a Mitchell Starc yorker the previous evening. But the team doctor did wonders and his captain couldn’t get the ball out of his hand yesterday as he took seven wickets in a blistering spell for the win.

We are so quick to write off past practices that have stood the test of time because of the modern mindset. We forget the magic the “good ol’ days” produced over the years.

Long live Test cricket. Long live the magic. Now, if South Africa could just get some more Test cricket...