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Test cricket is a format of the sport of cricket, considered the game's most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance and temperament, it is a first-class format of international cricket where two teams in Cricket whites, each representing their country, compete over a match that can last up to five days. It consists of up to four innings (up to two per team), with a minimum of ninety overs scheduled to be bowled in six hours per day, making it the sport with the longest playing time except for some multi-stage cycling races. A team wins the match by outscoring the opposition with the bat and bowling them out with the ball. Otherwise the match ends in a draw.
It is contested by 12 teams which are the full-members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The term "test match" was originally coined in 1861–62 but in a different context—that the English team was testing itself against all of the Australian colonies. Test cricket did not become an officially recognised format until the 1890s, but many international matches since 1877 have been retrospectively awarded Test status. The first such match took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 1877 between teams which were then known as a Combined Australian XI and James Lillywhite's XI, the latter a team of visiting English professionals. Matches between Australia and England were first called "test matches" in 1892. The first definitive list of retrospective Tests was written by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody two years later and, by the end of the century, had gained acceptance.
Traditionally, Test matches had always been played with a red ball during daylight hours. However, amid growing concern over dwindling viewership in the late 2000s, numerous trials were held in the early 2010s which culminated in day/night Tests being permitted by the ICC in 2012, and the first day/night match was between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November 2015. These matches start later in the day and continue into the evening, necessitating the use of a pink ball to aid in visibility.
The ICC World Test Championship is the international championship of Test cricket. It is a league competition run by the ICC, with its inaugural season starting in 2019. In line with the ICC's goal of having one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats of international cricket, it is the premier championship for Test cricket.
Two rival English tours of Australia were proposed in the early months of 1877, with James Lillywhite campaigning for a professional tour and Fred Grace for an amateur one. Grace's tour fell through and it was Lillywhite's team that toured New Zealand and Australia in 1876–77. Two matches against a combined Australian XI were later classified as the first official Test matches. The first match was won by Australia, by 45 runs and the second by England. After reciprocal tours established a pattern of international cricket, The Ashes was established as a competition during the Australian tour of England in 1882. A surprise victory for Australia inspired a mock obituary of English cricket to be published in the Sporting Times the following day: the phrase "The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" prompted the subsequent creation of the Ashes urn.
The series of 1884–85 was the first to be held over five matches: England player Alfred Shaw, writing in 1901, considered the side to be "the best ever to have left England". South Africa became the third team to play Test cricket in 1888–89, when they hosted a tour by an under-strength England side. Australia, England and South Africa were the only countries playing Test cricket before World War I.
There were only 24 Tests between 1911 and 1920, including the nine as part of the 1912 Triangular Tournament, owing to the disruption caused by World War I. When Test cricket resumed after the war, England was the first to tour Australia as part of the 1920–21 Ashes Series, who were whitewashed by Australia for the first time in a Test series.Burton S (2021) The 1920–21 Ashes: typhus quarantine and unseemly barracking, The Guardian, 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-02. England were required to quarantine before the series due to an outbreak of typhus on their ship, and also had injuries to key players, which disrupted their preparation. After the conclusion of the series, England's captain Johnny Douglas congratulated the Australians "who have whacked us, well."
The ICC held a second meeting in 1921 which focused on the use of eight-ball overs.
From this point onward, the ICC met "on an almost annual basis" except during war years, to set out future Test tours, checking that players were properly qualified, and encouraging the use of turf instead of matting pitches. Possible law changes were also discussed.
West Indies toured England for their Test debut on 23 June 1928 against England at Lord's as part of a three-Test series. England won each match batting only once, with the West Indies being largely outplayed. However they had shown their huge potential in a series of reciprocal tours in the previous decade.
New Zealand made their Test debut on 10 January 1930 at Lancaster Park as England toured New Zealand for a three-Test series. Due a quirk of scheduling the series between previously agreed tours (Australia in 1928–29 & 1932–33 and South Africa in 1930–31), England was also playing a four-Test series against the West Indies at the same time. Due to the third Test of the England-New Zealand series being affected by rain, a fourth was arranged to start on 21 February, 1930 at Eden Park. The third Test of the England-West Indies series also began on the same day at Bourda. It was the only time one country has played in two Test matches on the same day. England won the New Zealand series 1–0, with three draws.
The fourth Test of the England-West Indies series was Timeless Test. England made 849 from 259 overs in the first innings, with Andy Sandham scoring 325, then the world record score; it was also the first Test triple century. England bowled the West Indies out for 286 from 111.5 overs, establishing a first-innings lead of 563. England's captain, Calthorpe, was criticised for not enforcing the follow-on, but the age of his side was likely a major factor. England thus batted again, notching 272 from 79.1 overs before declaring 9 wickets down. With time seemingly unlimited, the West Indies were set 836 to win. At the close of play on the seventh day, they had scored 408 runs for the loss of five wickets, but two days of rain followed. As was the case with the infamous Durban match in 1939, England's ship was departing and the game had to finish a draw.
India toured England for their debut in Tests on 25 June 1932. England won the only Test by 158 runs.
In the 1931 revision, the relevant text was as follows:
Later, Law 6, which became Law 8, was standardised in the 1947 revision to the larger size as follows:
Following the fourth day's play at Adelaide, the Australian Board of Control sent a telegraph to the MCC, cricket's ruling body and the club that selected the England team. The Australian Board had claimed bodyline was unsportsmanlike and that the bowling was menacing the best interests of the game. Meanwhile, the match continued and saw England bowled out for 412 on day five, setting Australia a target of 532 to win. Australia only had significant contributions from Woodfull, 73 from 208 balls, Bradman, 66 from 71 balls, and Vic Richardson, 21 from 76 balls, as they were bowled out for 193 inside 70 overs on the sixth day. England were 2–1 up in the series.
The MCC replied to the first telegraph the following week, deeply resenting the accusation of unsportsmanlike bowling. Additionally, members of the MCC believed that the Australians had over-reacted to the English bowling. At this point, the remainder of the series was under threat.Pollard, p. 259.Frith, p. 227. evades a bodyline ball]]The Australian Board then sent another cable on 30 January, indicating that they wished the series to continue and offering to postpone consideration of the fairness of bodyline bowling until after the series. The MCC replied on 2 February, suggesting that continuing the series would be impossible unless the accusation of unsporting behaviour was withdrawn.Frith, pp. 226–28. The affair rose to the political level, and it was believed that it could have a significant trade impact between the two nations. The standoff was settled when the Australian prime minister, Joseph Lyons, met with members of the Australian Board and outlined to them the severe economic hardships that could be caused in Australia if the British public boycotted Australian trade. Following considerable discussion and debate in the English and Australian press, the Australian Board sent a cable to the MCC which, while maintaining its opposition to bodyline bowling, stated "We do not regard the sportsmanship of your team as being in question".Pollard, pp. 260–261.Frith, pp. 255–259. Correspondence between the Australian Board and the MCC continued for almost a year.Douglas, pp. 145–47. In the final two Tests, England continued employing bodyline tactics but to a lesser extent than the first three.Frith, pp. 274, 277, 293. England won the remaining two matches of the series and thus won the series 4–1. Regarding Bradman, he had his leanest run tally in a series with 396 at an average of 56.57, with just one century and three half centuries.
When the West Indies toured England in 1933, their captain Jackie Grant decided to use bodyline against the English for the first time. The match was drawn, but played a significant part in turning English opinion against bodyline. The Times used the word bodyline, without using inverted commas or using the qualification so-called, for the first time.Douglas, p.168. Wisden wrote that "most of those watching it for the first time must have come to the conclusion that, while strictly within the law, it was not nice."See Cricinfo for the scorecard of the second Test between England and West Indies in 1933.
In 1934, Bill Woodfull led Australia back to England in a tour that had been under a cloud since the previous Ashes series. Jardine had retired from International cricket in early 1934 after captaining a fraught tour of India and under England's new captain, Bob Wyatt, agreements were put in place so that bodyline would not be used.Haigh and Frith, p. 84.Harte, p. 354.Robinson, p. 164. However, there were occasions when the Australians felt that their hosts had crossed the mark with tactics resembling bodyline. In a match between the Australians and Nottinghamshire, Voce, one of the bodyline bowlers in 1932–33 again used the tactics. Woodfull told the Nottinghamshire administrators that, if Voce's leg-side bowling was repeated, his men would leave the field and return to London. He further said that Australia would not return to the country in the future.Haigh and Frith, p. 85.Perry, pp. 147–148.Harte, p. 356.
Later law changes, under the heading of "Intimidatory Short Pitched Bowling", also restricted the number of "bouncers" which could be bowled in an over.Frith, pp. 10–17.
Timeless Tests were sometimes used outside Australia if the series result depended on the outcome of the match. This happened in Kingston in 1930 when the Fourth (and final) Test between West Indies and England lasted for seven playing days and had to be abandoned owing to shipping schedules. The fifth and final Test at The Oval in 1938 was also timeless, as England batted for the first two and a half days and made 903 for 7, before declaring and dismissing Australia twice by the end of the fourth day.Lazenby, pp. 187–88. The fifth and final Test at Durban in 1938–39 between South Africa and England was also timeless. The infamous match was spread over twelve days with nine days of actual play – including two rest days and one day with no play. The match started on Friday 3 March 1939. South Africa batted first and were bowled out for 530 on Monday 6th March, with the Sunday having been a rest day. In reply England were bowled out on Wednesday, 8th March for 316. South Africa extended their lead with 481 in their second innings, as they batted for another two days, setting England a target of 696 to win. England were 0/0 at stumps on Thursday 9 March. At stumps on Friday 10 March, England had reached 253 for the loss of just one wicket. There was no play on Saturday, and Sunday was a rest day. They resumed on Monday, reaching 496 for the loss of three wickets. By 14 March 1939, they had reached 654 for the loss of five wickets in the fourth innings (the highest ever first-class fourth innings score) but the match had to remain unfinished as England's had to catch a train to Cape Town where their boat home was due to depart. The match had not been expected to take more than five days, but rain and rolling rejuvenated the pitch three times during the match, and it was still in good condition for batting when the match was abandoned.Lazenby, pp. 99–181.
The South Africans suggested that England could make alternative travel arrangements, to allow the match to be finished the next day. Hammond had had enough and disagreed. And so the match was called off. He remarked in his final speech: “I don’t think timeless Test matches are in the best interests of the game, and I sincerely hope that the last one has been played.” Wisden noted: "the limitless match we now believe to be dead."
Timeless Tests were never scheduled after World War II, owing to the scheduling difficulties of matches that could continue indefinitely, and the comparative dullness of the play.
On 8 March 1955, the ICC made the following decision at their meeting:
The main issue with uncovered pitches was that it produced "sticky wickets", which occurred after rain, while the pitch was drying, especially when this happened quickly. On a genuine sticky wicket, players could expect the ball to turn sharply with just a small amount of spin on the ball. Some balls might deviate a significant amount, while others would skid through. There was also often extremely uneven bounce.
Leaving pitches uncovered also meant rain would cause huge delays while the ground dried out enough to permit play. The loss of time and gate money was of huge concern to administrators, especially those with precarious finances.
Due to several wet summers, after much discussion, from the beginning of the 1959 season, full covering was made compulsory for County cricket and Test matches. The entire pitch had to be covered every evening and on Sundays, it also had to be covered whenever play was abandoned due to rain. The only instance where pitches were not covered was when players came off due to rain but play was not abandoned.
From the 1960s and 70s, uncovered pitches across the world began to be phased out. In 1960, the first full covering during a Test was used in England. However, regulations were sometimes vague and even contradictory. The final changes came in the 1970s. In 1979, Test matches in England had total pitch covering during rain. The end of sticky wickets came in 1981 when the same full covering was enforced in all English first-class matches.
After these changes, pitches became more standardised across the world, although differences still remained between countries and even between venues, due to the type of soil used and the local climate.
On 30 January, the International Cavaliers, a touring charity-based multi-racial cricket team, had been refused entry to South Africa. A letter from the South African Cricket Association ended with "you must be aware any tour ... including non-white personnel would not be allowed." The MCC tried to distance itself from the situation, claiming that the Cavaliers were a private organisation; this only served to make itself appear woefully out of touch with the world.
By mid-February, the MCC had cut the schedule from 28 to 11 matches, as they removed grounds seen as impossible to protect. They even permitted laying of artificial pitches on grounds hosting games, in order to allow play to continue if they were vandalised during play. Both pro and anti-tour letters were sent to newspapers as the tour grew closer, with players and officials taking stances for or against. Some journalists refused to commentate on any of the games; one, John Arlott, said that while he was not sure protests at games were the answer, he felt that by allowing the tour to go ahead the ICC had put cricket in a position where it would be "the ultimate and inevitable sufferer" and that the Tests "would offer comfort and confirmation to a completely evil regime."
Inside the British government, there were fears the tour would cause racial unrest within the country, and allowing the tour to carry on could only harm Wilson's chances of re-election. John Vorster, South Africa's prime minister was furious. "For a government to submit so easily and so willingly to open blackmail is to me unbelievable." Ali Bacher, South Africa's captain was more reserved: "I regret the manner in which politics have become involved in cricket ... but unless we broaden our outlook we will remain forever in isolation." That isolation lasted longer than anyone feared as the ICC's members voted to suspend South Africa indefinitely from international cricket at their meeting.
There is no recorded reason for the switching between four, five, six, and eight ball overs in the formative years of cricket, however it is understood that the shortness of four and five-ball overs meant there were too many over changes during the course of the day, and also made it difficult for bowlers to get into a rhythm to plot a dismissal. Eight-ball overs were used in Australia in an attempt to get more balls bowled in a day's play due to the reduction in change-overs. However, a downside was that bowlers would slow down in self preservation. The ICC permitted both 6-ball and 8-ball overs in the Laws, depending on the conditions of play in the host country. From the 2000 Laws, only 6-ball overs were permitted.
It is widely believed that with the commercialisation of cricket and the Packer revolution, there was no room left for the 8-ball over and the 6-ball over provided a happy balance between over changes and rhythm for the bowlers.
In July 1989, the International Cricket Conference renamed itself to the International Cricket Council. In the same year, the practice of the MCC President automatically assuming the chairmanship of the ICC came to an end, though with the election of Colin Cowdrey, was still led by an Englishman. The renamed organisation had more teeth; it was no longer confined to just making recommendations to national governing bodies, but could impose binding decisions on members.
In July 1992, Zimbabwe was admitted by the ICC as a full member, becoming the ninth Test playing nation. They played their first Test match in October that year, against India at Harare Sports Club.
1993 saw the creation of the Chief Executive of ICC, to which David Richards of the Australian Cricket Board was appointed. With his appointment, the practice of the MCC's secretary performing the same function for the ICC came to an end.
By 1995, it had been agreed that television replays should be available in Tests "wherever possible" and that the third umpire should signal out with a red light, and not out with a green light (Tendulkar was given out with a green light in the first Test at Durban in November 1992.)
In 1996, cameras were also permitted to check whether a ball had crossed the boundary, and in 1997, umpires could call on the third umpire to check if a catch was clean or not.
Test Match Playing Conditions in 1998–99 contained the following rules: Michael Atherton, opening batsman for England, said after he was given out (caught) by the third umpire in the third Test in Adelaide in 1998: "In my opinion the third umpire should be restricted to line decisions run. What people are looking for from a third umpire is 100 per cent correct decision-making, but that's a Utopia that cannot exist. There's often doubt about non-line decisions made by the third umpire. There is no substitute at the end of the day for the player's word out in the middle and the two umpire's control of the decision making process."
The teams with Test status (with the date of each team's Test debut) are:
Nine of these teams represent independent sovereign nations: the England cricket team represents the constituent countries of England and Wales, the West Indies is a combined team from fifteen Caribbean nations and territories, and Ireland represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Following the D'Oliveira affair in 1969, South Africa was suspended from all forms of cricket from 1970 until the end of the Apartheid in 1991.
Zimbabwe's Test status was voluntarily suspended in 2006 because of very poor performances, but its Test status was reinstated in August 2011. Zimbabwe Cricket Side Resume International Test Play After Six-Year Break – Voice of America.
The ICC has made several proposals to reform the system of granting Test status, including having two tiers with promotion and relegation, or a playoffs between the winners of the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the team with the lowest Test ranking. These proposals have not been successful as of 2024.
Statisticians have developed criteria to determine which matches count as Tests if they were played before the formal definition of Test status. There have been exceptional circumstances including the simultaneous England touring sides of 1891–92 (in Australia and South Africa) and 1929–30 (in the West Indies and New Zealand), all of whose international matches are deemed to have Test status.
In 1970, a series of five "Test matches" was played in England between England and a Rest of the World XI: these matches, originally scheduled between England and South Africa, were amended after South Africa was suspended from international cricket due to their government's apartheid policies. Although initially given Test status and included as Test matches in some record books, including Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, this was later withdrawn, and a principle was established that official Test matches can only be between nations (the geographically and demographically small countries of the West Indies have, since 1928, fielded a coalition side).
Despite this principle, in 2005, the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place that October between Australia and a World XI was an official Test match: some cricket writers and statisticians, including Bill Frindall, have ignored the ICC's ruling and exclude this match from their records.
The series of "Test matches" played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971–72, and the commercial "Supertests" organised by Kerry Packer as part of his World Series Cricket enterprise played between "WSC Australia", "WSC World XI" and "WSC West Indies" from 1977 to 1979, have never been regarded as official Test matches as of 2021.
Today, Test matches are scheduled to be played across five consecutive days. However, in the early days of Test cricket, matches were played for three or four days. England hosted Ireland at Lord's on 1 June 2023 for a four-day test. There were also frequent six-day tests until the 1970s.
Four-day Test matches were last played in 1973, between New Zealand and Pakistan. Until the 1980s, it was usual to include a 'rest day,' often a Sunday. There have also been '', which have no predetermined maximum time. In 2005, Australia played a match scheduled for six days against a World XI, which the ICC sanctioned as an official Test match, though the match reached a conclusion on the fourth day. In October 2017, the ICC approved a request for a four-day Test match, between South Africa and Zimbabwe, which started on 26 December 2017 and ended on the second day, 27 December. The ICC trialed the four-day Test format until the 2019 Cricket World Cup. In December 2019, Cricket Australia were considering playing four-day Tests, subject to consensus with other Test nations. Later the same month, the ICC considered the possibility of making four-day Test matches mandatory for the ICC World Test Championship from 2023.
There have been attempts by the ICC, the sport's governing body, to introduce day-night Test matches. In 2012, the International Cricket Council passed playing conditions that allowed for the staging of day-night Test matches. The first day-night Test took place during New Zealand's tour to Australia in November 2015.
In the following scenarios, the team that bats first is referred to as Team A and their opponents as Team B.
Usually the teams will alternate at the completion of each innings. Thus, Team A will bat (and Team B will bowl) until its innings ends, and then Team B will bat and Team A will bowl. When Team B's innings ends, Team A begin their second innings, and this is followed by Team B's second innings. The winning team is the one that scores more runs in their two innings.
A team's innings ends in one of the following ways:
If, at the completion of Team B's first innings, Team A leads by at least 200 runs, the captain of Team A may (but is not required to) order Team B to have their second innings next. This is called enforcing the follow-on. In this case, the usual order of the third and fourth innings is reversed: Team A will bat in the fourth innings. It is rare for a team forced to follow-on to win the match. In Test cricket it has only happened four times, although 344 follow-ons have been enforced. Australia was the losing team on three occasions, losing twice to England, in 1894 and in 1981, and once to India in 2001. Most recently, on February 24, 2023, England lost to New Zealand by one run after enforcing the follow-on.
If the whole of the first day's play of a Test match has been lost because of bad weather or other reasons like bad light, then Team A may enforce the follow-on if Team B's first innings total is 150 or more fewer than Team A's. During the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley in 2013, England batted first after the first day was lost because of rain. New Zealand, batting second, scored 180 runs fewer than England, meaning England could have enforced the follow-on, though chose not to. This is similar to four-day first-class cricket, where the follow-on can be enforced if the difference is 150 runs or more. If the Test is two days or fewer then the "follow-on" value is 100 runs.
After 80 overs, the captain of the bowling side may take a Cricket ball, although this is not required. The captain will usually take the new ball: being harder and smoother than an old ball, a new ball generally favours faster bowlers who can make it bounce more variably. The roughened, softer surface of an old ball can be more conducive to spin bowlers, or those using reverse swing. The captain may delay the decision to take the new ball if he wishes to continue with his spinners (because the pitch favours spin). After a new ball has been taken, should an innings last a further 80 overs, then the captain will have the option to take another new ball.
A Test match will produce a result by means of one of six scenarios:
The number of matches in Test series has varied from one to seven. Up until the early 1990s, Test series between international teams were organised between the two national cricket organisations with umpires provided by the home team. With the entry of more countries into Test cricket, and a wish by the ICC to maintain public interest in Tests in the face of the popularity of One Day International cricket, a rotation system was introduced that sees all ten Test teams playing each other over a six-year cycle, and an official ranking system (with a trophy held by the highest-ranked team). In this system, umpires are provided by the ICC. An elite panel of umpires was maintained since 2002, and the panel is supplemented by an additional International Panel that includes three umpires named by each Test-playing country. The elite umpires officiate almost all Test matches, though usually not Tests involving their home country.
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| 2023–24 |
| 2021 |
| 2025 |
| 2023–24 |
| 2024 |
| 2023–24 |
| 2024–25 |
| 2003–04 |
| 2024 |
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| 2022 |
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| 2023–24 |
| 2021–22 |
| 2024–25 |
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| The Anthony de Mello Trophy is awarded for the India–England test series played in India, whilst the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy is awarded for the same series played in England. It replaced the Pataudi Trophy which was used until 2021. |
| The Richards–Botham Trophy, first played for in 2021–22, replaced the Wisden Trophy, which was discontinued after 2020. |
| +Number of perpetual trophies contested by each team !Team !No. of Trophies contested | |
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| 5 | |
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| 1 |
WTC league games are organized by the host nation's cricket board, whereas the final is organized directly by the ICC. The winners of the tournament are awarded the Test Mace, which was previously held by the leader of the test team rankings.
| 2021 | Rose Bowl, Southampton | 8 wickets | Kyle Jamieson | Marnus Labuschagne, 1675 | David Warner, 335* | Marnus Labuschagne, 5 | Ravichandran Ashwin, 71 | Lasith Embuldeniya, 7/137 | Kyle Jamieson, 5 | ||
| 2023 | The Oval, London | 209 runs | Travis Head | Joe Root, 1915 | Tom Latham, 252 | Joe Root, 8 | Nathan Lyon, 88 | Ajaz Patel, 10/119 | Nathan Lyon, 5 | ||
| 2025 | Lord's, London | 5 wickets | Aiden Markram | Joe Root, 1968 | Harry Brook, 317 | Joe Root, 7 | Pat Cummins, 80 | Noman Ali, 8/46 | Pat Cummins, 6 | ||
| 2027 | Lord's, London |
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