In a pulse-quickening universe that is sport, Test cricket steps in with its pauses, its stretchable time, its drama and those nerve-wracking last day climaxes. Even if at times it can lead to the alliterative ‘dull, dreary, draw’ finish-line, some Tests with stalemates, still whip up incandescent streaks.
A contest spread over five days may seem an anachronism in these days of micro-second attention spans and Instagram stories. Yet, Tests have survived and most players swear that it is the ultimate barometer for cricketing greatness. To chronicle the legacy and quirks of Tests since 1877 is never easy, but Tim Wigmore takes on this task with deep knowledge, an unbridled curiosity and a pen that delivers smooth lines.
The result is a 578-page tome, Test Cricket: A History. The door-stopper size may seem overwhelming and even as the author in the initial pages hints at approaching the book in a chronological way, a reader could dive into any chapter and emerge with a fresh insight and slivers of nostalgia.
There are droll phrases like the one on the English batting collapse, or sample this for some magic: “99.94: four indelible numbers in cricket’s tapestry. Together they make up Donald Bradman’s Test batting average, a figure that still shines like a sapphire in the sun.” In the early pages there are references to WG Grace, the willow game’s first superstar, who blurted out one-liners like: “They came to see me bat, not you umpire.”
Gradually, Wigmore warms up to the way cricket eased into Britain’s colonies, referred to as the Commonwealth. When it comes to India, there is a hat-tip to Ashis Nandy who famously wrote: “Cricket is an Indian game, accidentally discovered by the English.” Wigmore doesn’t just mine a sport’s history but he also delves into the literature that emerged from that exquisite base. Besides Nandy and others, the author quotes Gideon Haigh’s descriptions about Victor Trumper. But these are all used minimally like the seasoning of mustard seeds, curry leaves and a dash of oil in Indian cooking.
Be it South Africa or the West Indies, Wigmore offers an expansive eye and helps us understand the manner in which a British game found wings and crossed the seas. The use of cricket as an equaliser between diverse races or even the manner in which Bodyline exploded into a festering wound, are all highlighted. Wigmore writes with fluidity, and his ability to conjure word-pictures are apt.
Moving across continents
Yes, cricket to begin with was a preserve of the British and the Aussies but it also gained heft as it moved across continents and archipelagos. Wigmore is quick to point this out. Be it India or Pakistan, and their common history before partition, the writer gently holds a mirror to those passages of time smeared with blood, angst and hurried departures. That cricket is both an indulgence of the rich and a pathway to progress for the middle-class and the poor is an economic truth. In his chapter on captaincy, Wigmore delves into the class-fissures within the game. In Pakistan, its initial skippers were all from Oxford or Cambridge, an academic hurdle that did not overwhelm Javed Miandad, whose family had migrated from Gujarat to Karachi. Typical of the street-fighter spirit within him, the great Pakistani batter carved his own space.
The accursed racial discrimination in South Africa called apartheid and the resultant banning of the Proteas are all looked into with an honest lens. If cricket at times gets distilled into strong batters and fiery pacers, it also offers space for the seductive art of spin. Wigmore does have a sense of wonder as he offers pen-portraits of MAK Pataudi and the great spin-quartet he shepherded.
Respects are paid to Sunil Gavaskar too: “A classical technique and consummate balance were the foundation of Gavaskar’s batsmanship.” In an ode to West Indies cricket, Wigmore declares: “As a boy, Richards boxed for his neighbourhood. He brought this pugnacity to batting. Richard’s slow strut to the wicket turned his entrance into an intimidatory act.”
The Kerry Packer years and the way it influenced cricket or the emergence of Ian Botham are presented in all their multiple shades. Technique and science too find space as an illuminating treatise on reverse swing is presented. The underdog story as obvious in the growth of Sri Lanka or the match-fixing crises that plunged a knife into cricket’s heart, are all dissected with finesse and emotion.
Shane Warne’s rockstar status in spin, Sachin Tendulkar’s stellar career, Bangladesh’s ascent into cricket and New Zealand’s resilience, all find adequate space and the perfect turn of phrase. Technology’s forays into umpiring or the spectre of terrorism casting a huge shadow on sport are equally seen as part of modern reality. Cricket’s emerging philosophies, like the current one centred around England’s Bazball, are probed into with wide-eyed wonder and some pithy observations.
Essentially, this is Wigmore’s love letter to Tests and he explains: “For all the game’s inequalities, Test cricket continues to provide reminders of why it has endured for so long.” These words offer hope in an era of Twenty20 leagues and talk about four-day Tests while the longest format gears up for its 150th anniversary in 2027
The book isn’t just Wigmore and the keyboard, it also voices the emotions of Tendulkar, Michael Holding and many others, who adorned this great sport. The outsider’s gaze and the insider’s sweat are all there in this fabulous book.
The reviewer is Sports Editor, The Hindu
Title: Test Cricket, A History
Author: Tim Wigmore
Publisher: Hachette India
Price: ₹899