opinion
Justin Langer: How Test-match cricket tells the storylines of summer

The ‘kid’ Sam Constas jogs out to the crease. Literally runs out to the middle for his first shot at the big time. 85,000 Boxing Day supporters erupt. The question on everyone’s lips was: “Can the kid walk the talk?” “I am going to take on Bumrah,” he said before the game, with a cheeky grin. Surely not. The Indian pace ace is a superstar. At second slip stands Virat Kohli, one of the great warriors of our game. He, like us, watched and wondered. Jasprit Bumrah, the superstar Indian fast bowler, took the brand-new Kookaburra ball in his hand and ran in hard at the young punk. A perfectly pitched delivery. Play and miss. Play and miss. Play and miss. Welcome to Test cricket son. And then out of the blue the kid attempts a reverse lap. The old bull smiles at first. The gall of it all. Most who know the game felt like Bumrah did. Are you kidding? I can’t believe he just tried that. Not so early in the innings anyway. Bold or crazy? Who knows? The punters loved it. They, like all of us couldn’t believe what they had just seen. But they, and we, were excited by the prospects of such audacity. The first attempt at the reverse sweep against the world’s best bowler he missed, as did the second, but then the magic began. The kid went mad. Reverse sweeping sixes, dancing down the crease like he was playing a T10 game. He sure has guts. When he was finally dismissed by an innocuous delivery from the spinner Jadeja, everyone went quiet. The show was over. But was it? For the next five days ‘the kid,’ smiled, took photos, revved up the crowd. He was having the time of his life. He dragged along his teammates, and most of the nation. At one stage the old warrior tried to mark his territory and bumped into the kid. While I don’t condone physical contact on the cricket field, I can understand what was going through Kohli’s mind. For the last decade, he has been the leader of this Indian team. In all his actions he has represented his country with vigour and pride, and here was this kid taking the mickey out his team. How dare he? Kohli was mocked, then fined, and the game moved on. Incredibly, all this happened within the first two hours of one of the most engrossing five-day Test matches that I have ever seen. Having been involved in Test cricket in one way or another for over 50 years, as a fan, player, coach, and commentator, I am blown away every year by the beauty and brilliance of the longest form of the game. When I hear through the public, or in the highest echelons and corridors of cricket administration that Test cricket is dying, and won’t be around in the next decade or so, I don’t get it. Waking up as a kid in Perth on Boxing Day to the voice of Richie Benaud and Bill Lawrie was intoxicating. All day the cricket would play in the background while my brothers, sister and I took on each other with a taped-up tennis ball in the backyard. They are magical memories. The distinctive nature of the five-day game is a celebration of something so unique. This is the cricket that tests not just skill but character, not just technique but temperament. It is a format where silence holds as much tension as cheers, where a draw can feel like victory, and where every match writes its own chronicle in the grand book of sporting folklore. The two days after the Boxing Day test, while walking through the airports, in the streets, driving in taxis, or responding to messages on my phone, the common theme has been, “it’s just what Test cricket needed,” or that was “the perfect advertisement for the longest form of the game”. Most heart-warming to this cricket tragic is that the game of cricket is on the lips of millions of Australians. The attendances prove it, the broadcast numbers are through the roof and the flow-on effect through the Big Bash League and the extraordinary interest generated through India is exciting. When people say, “it’s just what Test cricket needed”, or “that it’s the perfect advertisement for the game”, or “I thought Test cricket was dying”, I simply smile and ask myself, where is the proof that this is case? T20 cricket is a lot of fun and a skilful and a tough game to play. It is over in three hours and suits the needs of many in today’s busy society. Commentating the BBL game in Adelaide on New Years Eve, you could have been mistaken for being at a rock concert. The noise from the atmosphere of more than 40,000 Strikers supporters was a privilege to be a part of. On the back of a history-making attendance of over 373,000 passionate cricket fans in Melbourne, it is no wonder anyone who loves the game is delighted to be a part of the fun. In Test cricket, there is time to let the stories unfold, and five full days to tell and develop them. Test cricket is a storyteller’s dream, because within the action between willow and leather, the human narrative has time to breath, evolve and entertain. Test cricket is not dying, it is just getting better, as the different forms of the game complement each other and give us something to talk about and debate through our glorious summer season. These sentiments, along with ‘the kid’ Sam Konstas, ‘the bully’ Virat Kohli, ‘the silly’ Rishab Pant, ‘the indomitable’ Pat Cummins, ‘the struggling’ Mitch Marsh, ‘the story’ Nitesh Reddy Kumar and ‘the superstar’ Jasprit Bumrah, were all a part of the epic storyline of the Boxing Day Test. Where Konstas made us smile, Reddy held us captive as he moved towards his first Test hundred. Those in the commentary box stood on their feet, the tension was too much. Pictures of Reddy’s selfless father on the other side of the fence showed the human side of the game. Coming from a middle-class family in Hyderabad, his cricketing journey began in local tournaments where his natural ability to both bat and bowl made him stand out. His father, recognizing his son’s passion for cricket, supported his training and development despite dire financial constraints. Alison Mitchell and I interviewed Reddy on the second morning of the Adelaide Test match, and he told us about his father and the sacrifices he and his family had made for him. He talked of his great respect of Kohli and players from the past. and the work he was doing to make his father proud. A few weeks later we watched in awe as his humble dad cried when his son posted his first century. He would never have dreamed of being at the MCG, let alone watching his son evolve into a star. Then, maybe he did. And then in amazement, when he was filmed meeting Sunil Gavaskar after play, he bowed down and touched the feet of the man he had admired through the screens for years as a boy. Indian tradition portrays this as the the greatest sign of respect. Today in Sydney the drama continues. Day two of the final Test match of the summer. The contest on the field has been exhilarating, the controversies off all a part of the theatre. Cricket is alive and well. Test cricket is still the icon of the system. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. The numbers and stories don’t lie.

opinionJustin Langer: How Test-match cricket tells the storylines of summer

opinion
Justin Langer: How Test-match cricket tells the storylines of summer