TEST nations

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status," as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days. It is generally considered the ultimate test of playing ability and endurance in the sport.^[1][2][3] The origin of the name test stems from the fact that the long, gruelling match is a "test" of the relative strength of the two sides.^[4]

The first officially recognised Test match commenced on 15 March 1877, contested by England and Australia at theMelbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where Australia won by 45 runs.^[5] England won the second match (also at the MCG) by four wickets, thus drawing the series 1–1.^[6] This was not the first international cricket match, however. That was played between Canada and the United States, on 24 and 25 September 1844.^[7]

A Test match to celebrate 100 years of Test cricket was held in Melbourne from 12 to 17 March 1977. In this match, Australia beat England by 45 runs. In a remarkable co-incidence, this is the same margin as the result of the first Test match in 1877, which the 1977 match was commemorating.^[8]

History

1789–1883

Leading English cricketers first visited a foreign country in 1789, when John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, organised a tour of France. However, this was swiftly abandoned due to the French Revolution. Sides designated as "England" began to play in the late 18th century, but these teams were not truly representative. William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven in 1846, and this was the first representative England side, which toured the country taking on local sides.

Jemmy Dean and John Wisden formed a rival team, the United All-England Eleven, in 1852. Matches between Wisden's team and Clarke's quickly became the highlight of the cricketing year. A side comprising six players from each team toured North America in 1859, which was highly successful.

By 1861, the year of the next tour, the United States was plagued by Civil War, so the cricketers headed to Australia instead. They then visited both Australia and New Zealand in 1863/64. The Australians reciprocated, as the Australian Aborigines became the first cricketers to tour England in 1868. The English visited North America again later that year and again in 1872.

Two rival tours were vying to become the first official test tour, with James Lillywhite campaigning for a professional tour and Fred Grace for an amateur one. Grace's tour fell through, though, and it was Lillywhite's understrength team that toured New Zealand and Australia in 1876/77. Two matches against a combined Australian XI became the first official test matches. The first test was won by Australia, by 45 runs.

The Australians then toured England and North America in 1878, leading to more official tests against the English. England returned to Australia in 1878–79 for a one off test match, and when the Australians came to England in 1880, a firm pattern of tours was established.

A team of Lillywhite, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury financed England's next tour to North America and Australia, in 1881/2, and it was during this tour that the first accusations of match fixing appeared, during England's match against a Victoria XI.

The legend of the Ashes was established during the Australian tour of England in 1882. An easy England victory disappeared in the closing stages thanks to some incredible bowling from Australia's Fred Spofforth, seemingly in response to unsportsmanlike behaviour earlier in the game from WG Grace. A mock obituary was published in the Sporting Times the following day, mourning the death of English cricket, as this was the first time that an England team had lost on home soil. The phrase in the obituary "The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" led the creation of the Ashes urn. England reclaimed the Ashes at the first attempt, during their tour of Australia in 1882/3.

[edit]1884–1889

England would be the first team to retain the Ashes when Australia visited them in 1884. They won one and drew two in a heavily rain disrupted series. England would win yet again as Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury organised another tour to Australia in 1884/5. The series, which was the first to be held over five matches, as we know it today, was won 3–2 by England. Shaw, writing in 1901, considered this side to be "the best ever to have left England."

England then took the first ever Ashes white wash, as they defeated the Australians 3–0 at home in 1886. WG Grace scored an English record 170 at the Oval during this series. The next tour, in Australia in 1886/7, was poorly promoted and poorly attended, not helped by the fact that the victorious England team was considered to play unattractive cricket.

Chaos descended on English cricket in the Australian summer of 1887/8, as Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury organised their customary tour, at the invitation of the Melbourne Cricket Club, while a rival tour, that of the future Lord Hawke, was invited by their Sydney counterparts. Eventually, neither of these sides matches against Australia were to be considered test matches. They did, however, unite for one match in Sydney, which England, captained by Walter Read, won.

Many considered the next team to leave Australia, that of 1888, was considered by many to be worst ever to do so. However, they won all four of their warm up matches and the first test of the series. This was the first time they had won in England since the match that started the Ashes legend six years earlier. However, England won the next two and the series.

The first ever test series not to involve Australia occurred in 1888/9, as an understrength England side toured South Africa. The South Africans, however, lost both the tests in Port Elizabeth.

[edit]1890–1899

The Australian tour of England in 1890 was known as the battle of the greats. The rivalry between English captain WG Grace and his opposite number Billy Murdoch was hotly anticipated. England continued their winning streak however, winning the first two tests. The third test, held at Old Trafford, became the first test to abandoned entirely because of rain, so England secured the series undefeated.

Lord Sheffield led England to Australia in 1891–92, and what was considered to be a very strong England team succumbed to their first series defeat for some years.

Test cricket playing teams

There are currently ten Test-playing teams, the majority of which are individual nations (except for England and the West Indies).

Test status is conferred upon a country or group of countries by the International Cricket Council. Teams that do not have Test status can only officially play a shortened version of cricket, except in events such as the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which was specifically designed to allow non-Test teams to play under conditions similar to Tests. The teams are listed below with the date of each team's Test debut:

Order	Team	Date of first Test Match	Number of matches before first win	Notes
1	England	15 March 1877	1	At the time represented all of Britain, but now officially represents England and Wales.
2	Australia	15 March 1877	0
3	South Africa	12 March 1889	11	Did not participate in international cricket between 10 March 1970 and 10 November 1991 after the International Cricket Conference suspended South Africa in response to the then South African Government's policy of apartheid.
4	West Indies	23 June 1928	5	Consists of players from a number of Caribbean nations and dependencies. (10 independent nations and five dependencies)[10]
5	New Zealand	10 January 1930	42
6	India	25 June 1932	24	Before partition of India in 1947, included territory that now forms Pakistan and Bangladesh.
7	Pakistan	16 October 1952	1	Before Bangladeshi independence in 1971, included territory that is now Bangladesh.
8	Sri Lanka	17 February 1982	13
9	Zimbabwe	18 October 1992	10	Voluntarily suspended from Test cricket between 10 June 2004 and 6 January 2005, and from 18 January 2006 until 3 August 2011
10	Bangladesh	10 November 2000	34