It would be easy to dismiss the rollicking red-ball match at Cape Town between South Africa and India as an anomaly. After all, it had the dubious honor of being the shortest Test match in history. No less than 23 wickets fell on Wednesday, which was the second-highest amount ever on the first day of a Test. The most ever on any day was 27 at Lordās back in 1888. No time machine was necessary to feel the shock of seeing so much happening so fast. This was five-day cricket on fast forward, dizzying but not very digestible. Batting time is toast.
The crowd were hoping for a long goodbye from South Africaās captain, Dean Elgar. Elgar was one of three batsmen dismissed twice on the same day as the Newlands pitch became a minefield for batsmen who could never be sure they were properly set. Proteas batting consultant Ashwell Prince was adamant that the pitch was as quick as he had ever seen it. āThe bounce was a little bit inconsistent, with some keeping low and some bouncing quite steeply. There’s also the seam movement, which you don’t mind on day one, but if you have the seam movement with consistent bounce, then it’s a different situation,” said the former left-hander.
There was an undoubted difficulty at the rising ball, rearing off a length. Even Virat Kohli in prime form played some indiscriminate shots, unable to completely trust the surface. One common theme ran through the whole of those frantic three sessions. The bowler was always in play because the modern batsman is drawn to playing shot after shot.
Leaving the ball on its merits is something that has become lost in a mist of time, a skill that has been trumped by the need for speed on the scoreboard. Even Kohli succumbed to a Rabada ball that he could have left. In mitigation, he had just seen three partners fall in the space of five balls. The advent of T20 has driven a wedge between the art of crease occupation and when to attack.
Within the last week or so, former Ashes captains Mike Atherton and Steve Waugh have written and spoken of their fears for the survival of Test cricket. Yet, here were red-ball cricketers unable to cope with the complexities of a bowler-friendly pitch. Over in Sydney, Pakistan bowled out Australia for below 300 for a handy lead only to lose three wickets to poor shots in the final over to finish 7 for 68. This was not before Australia surrendered their last five men for just ten runs earlier in the day. Wickets are falling quicker than dominoes. Inspired bowling can only explain so much.
For the first time in a calendar year, the mean run rate in Tests was higher than 3.5, which links to a higher degree of risk and abandon in strokeplay. The stats were super-boosted by Ben Stokesās England, who averaged 4.87, but overall in 2023, the average number of balls bowled in decisive results translated into just over three days of action on a 90-over basis.
For those who like their Test sessions to play out like a battle of chess with sparks of creative play, the quick cricket played by India and South Africa here was unedifying, a reckless procession of edges and false shots. The oasis of calm before the storm was Kl Rahul and Kohli taking the score to 153-4 before six wickets fell for nothing. It was the first time that has happened in Tests and will surely be the last.
Indiaās 153 was one less than Graham Goochās unbelievable seven-and- a half-hour 154 at Headingley in overcast conditions against a marauding West Indian attack of Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Patrick Patterson in 1991. āWhen you get a big score you compose and compile it,ā Gooch told Wisden Cricket Monthly in 2021. See ball hit ball is overrated. Batting time is underrated.
The retiring Elgar was one of those batters who fought for his wicket time and time again. “Dad! I will be there till the end of the game tomorrow. If they want to get me out, they would have to break something in my body to drag me out of there. They are not going to get me by hitting me on the body. No way in hell,ā he told his father before a five-hour unbeaten 96 at the Wanderers overcame the same opponents in 2022.
That spirit and skill to bat time and fight for supremacy by closing down the bowler rarely imbues the great game these days. It is what Geoffrey Boycott would have called āover my dead body.ā Gary Kirsten batted for the same number of balls in the Newlands matchā 642 ā in one innings against England in 1999. Like Prince sang in the song of the same name, āSo sue me if I go too fast.ā
Bazball is touring India later in January. It will be interesting to observe how fast and loose works out there.