These days Test cricket has become a longer version of one-day cricket. Gone are the days when Test cricket presented a gruelling, unattractive yet fierce battle between the bat and the ball. It was a long waiting game, minutes and hours of no evident movement and the sheer physical and mental exertion. As there was no limitation of time, the winner was often the one who didn’t blink first.
Although we still witness few such intriguing sessions, Test cricket these days mostly presents a battle which is about aggression rather than composure. Players now are not afraid of making mistakes but are afraid of not taking their chances. Because making mistakes is now acceptable but staying passive has become a crime.
Hence, whenever we see the possibility of an old fashioned battle between a batsman and a bowler blossoming on the pitch, either the batsman gets out while playing an aggressive stroke or the bowler is taken out of the attack as he fails to pick up the wicket. And the battle ends abruptly without reaching the peak.
In the old days, runs and wickets didn’t determine the outcome of the battle. For players of older eras, glory didn’t lie in numbers, it was in weathering the storm, surviving the ordeal and returning back from the battle on the 22 yards.
Just when these lovely old battles seemed to have become a thing of past, England played South Africa at Nottingham. In what seemed like perfect Test match settings, three veterans brought out their best form to display an exhibition of the old fashioned trademark duel between the bat and the ball.
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On the first day, when James Anderson’s second ball swung away from Heino Kuhn’s bat, beating his outside edge, it was evident that the ball would to do the talking in the first session. It wasn’t just another outswinger, it was a beautiful out swinger. It pitched at the right spot, then moved away, not less and not more, and as it went past the bat, it created a lovely angle.
Stuart Broad, Anderson’s bowling partner joined in the act and the duo set the tone for an exciting battle. A wicket fell, something which was inevitable, and with it came to the crease Hashim Amla, one of the most reliable batsmen to have in such conditions.
Atter his arrival, it was the duel between Amla and the bowling pair of Anderson, Broad. Two experienced skilled and smart bowlers against a solid, composed and brilliant batsman. 840 Test wickets versus 7992 Test runs.
In the first ten balls Amla faced, he scored only two runs. And those two runs came from deliveries that were bowled on his pads. But anything that was pitched on or outside off stump was dealt defensively. All these ten balls were bowled by Anderson and Broad.
In the next 33 balls Amla faced, he scored 14 runs. It included three boundaries, three high-quality boundaries. A swift and reactive cover drive and two lovely strokes behind the wickets with the wrists working almost in auto-pilot mode. These 33 balls were delivered by Stokes and Wood.
In the afternoon session, Broad and Anderson returned to the attack. Refreshed, rejuvenated and once again full of venom. In the very first over Anderson produced some magic. A short of good length ball moved away to beat Amla on the outside edge while one got a thick edge and another squared up the batsman completely.
The bowler was all over the batsman. The ball was winning the battle and then Anderson blinked. On the pads and it was whipped. Mercilessly.
In the next over, normal service resumed. For three deliveries, Broad kept drifting down the leg side. It was sloppy bowling that made Amla relax a bit and then came the surprise. A short delivery at a decent height lured the batsman to play a shot. This time Amla blinked and the ball took the top edge. Luckily it didn’t find a fielder.
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In the following 30 minutes, the battle reached its pinnacle. Sensing Amla was comfortable with the fuller delivery, the bowlers pulled back their lengths a little. Anderson was quickly reward for the change as he got one to beat the bat and crash on the pads. The LBW appeal was turned down but the doubts had entered the batsman’s mind.
Amla then produced his class. To tackle the uneasy bounce he used his feet. Moving on the back foot, he displayed the full flow of his bat. The punch through the covers and off the square brought boundaries. A little victory for the bat.
It was Anderson’s turn now. And he played it smartly. After sending short balls that pushed Amla back, he bowled a straighter one on the stumps. It did the trick and Amla fumbled. But the next time Anderson tried that, he was met with a firm straight bat that sent the ball safely to the leg side.
The fight lasted for 11 overs in the afternoon session and ended with Anderson and Broad running out of their physical energy. Amla had survived but it was a tough survival. The pulls had ended being top-edges, there was an lbw shout and few took the outside edge as well.
But importantly Amla didn’t bow out. He was still there at the crease.
The Broad-Anderson vs Amla battle resumed after tea but by that time the ball had lost its magic and the conditions were no longer hostile. It was a soulless and dragged version of what happened in the afternoon session.
During that short duel after tea, Amla played confidently, scoring boundaries through solid strokes but in the end, Broad brought the curtains down with a short ball.
Regardless, it was an afternoon session saw some good Test cricket. Amla, Anderson and Broad played their parts, the conditions at Nottingham added to the battle and the fans cherished moments that have become rare in modern cricket.
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