Test Cricket

The second variety of Cricket is TEST Cricket. Test Cricket is the original variant of the game and the highest form of cricket. It lasts for 5 days. Test cricket is the quintessential part of cricket. Only 10 countries have Test membership. 

Test cricket is also called, traditional, unlimited overs, five days or slow edition. Test Playing nations get an automatic entry into the World Cups.

Matches

Tests are usually played in a series of 3 or 5 matches, preceded / followed by an ODI series and a few First Class Matches. Teams like England and Australia have different players for ODI and Tests but with limited success. In the other teams, the players are mostly the same. Test matches contain 4 innings (2 each).

The match is played in three sessions per day. Morning (9-12), Lunch (12:30- 2:45) and Tea (3:00-5:00). There are two breaks: 12-12:30 is lunch, and 2:45-3:00 is tea. (These are approximate timings which vary according to season & geographic location.). Sometimes Test matches have a rest day after the third day's play.

Differences between ODI & Tests

UNLIMITED OVERS

The rules of play of test cricket are similar to that of One-day cricket. However there are many differences in the rules and strategies. In Test cricket, there is no limitation on the overs that a team can face. Hence the Strike Rate & Run Rate aren't so important. Therefore a run rate of 4.00 is considered good, while on average a rate of 2.50 is what usually is scored.

CLOTHING

In Test matches white clothing is used only, and the helmet/cap can be the team colours. Umpires have to wear black and white. Only a red ball can be used.

OVERS

In a day, a minimum of 90 overs have to be bowled. If that is not possible, then the  play is extended after 5 PM or play starts earlier on the next day.

DECLARATION

In an ODI, no score is impossible to chase, so the captain is

4 INNINGS

Test matches are played over 5 days. Each team faces 2 innings. In an ODI, if you fail to make a good score in an inning, you don't have a second chance. By having two innings, teams can make up for bad play in their first inning and perform better in their second.

If after 5 days, the teams cannot complete the full 4 innings, the match is said to be DRAWN. Drawn Tests occur very frequently.  A tied test is very rare, it occurs when the cumulative runs of both innings of both teams are equal, and further run scoring is not possible.

BAD LIGHT

A day's play can be stopped, if lighting conditions are poor. The umpires have a lux meter, which measures the intensity of daylight on a scale of 5. If there is bad light (poor daylight) they also may ask for the ground lights (if available) to be switched on. They then ask the batsman if he wants to continue or not. If yes, then play goes on. However if it is really dark, they can arbitrarily call off play.

FOLLOW ON

As mentioned, there are 4 innings in a Test Match, as opposed to 2 in an ODI. The teams bat alternatively. Now, suppose Team A makes a huge score batting first. Team B batting second tries to exceed that score by as many runs as possible. But before they can overtake their opponents score, they have to make at least 200 less than than their opponents score.

If they fail to achieve that mark, the opposing captain may impose FOLLOW-ON. This means that instead of his team batting in the third innings, he forces the opposition (Team B) to bat the third innings.