Published Dec 3, 2020, 3:40 pm IST
West Indies take on New Zealand at Hamilton, as Test Cricket returns after a string of Limited-Overs Cricket.
The return of Test cricket also marks the beginning of New Zealand’s Test summer and will also be followed by Australia’s Test summer.
The pandemic deprived cricket fans of test cricket this year as the favorite cricket fans had very little Test Cricket to watch.
Although Limited-Overs Cricket has grown over the years, many Cricket lovers have a soft corner to the five-day game’s beauty.
With the tinkering on offer to the game, Test Cricket managed to stay away from most of the changes.
A significant change to the long-form has been the Test Championship while Day-Night Tests have also experimented successfully.
Both experiments have allowed the game to move forward without too much of a difference to it.
The Day-Night matches allow a larger audience to attend games after work, keeping the stadiums filled for Test Cricket.
A Test Championship brings more relevance as the matches have more riding on them as the teams look to make it to Lords for the finals.
The Test Championship has lost some steam due to the pandemic with few modifications few changes to the points.
During the pandemic, we have had West Indies take on England in a closed-door test series.
The Series bought some excellent cricket, as the games were exciting, and the West Indies put up a good fight throughout the Series.
There have been doubts about using bio-bubbles throughout the period, but England managed to pull off a series swiftly, showing others how to play during a pandemic.
The success of a Test series led to another as Pakistan successfully toured for another three Tests.
The use of on-field hotels allowed the games to be conducted smoothly, and the Cricket was a relaxation to many after a long period of silence.
Cricket’s return has allowed sides to support political issues like the BLM movement and has also ensured the Test Championship continues.
A few months ago, a summer of Test Cricket was in a lot of doubt as the pandemic is going around.
With the success of Bio-bubbles and relatively fewer cases in New Zealand, it has been a little easier to start there.
Like in England, West Indies were given the honors of starting the Test Summer in New Zealand at Hamilton.
New Zealand is a place that favors pace bowling, and a first look at the Hamilton pitch would suggest it to be the best place to start a Test series.
The pitch was indistinguishable from the square as it had a thick covering of grass.
Conditions were perfect for exploiting one of the best parts of Test Cricket, swing bowling.
Both sides have been well-rested while many players have also been active in other tournaments and the Test Series kicked earlier today.
The Series consists of two Tests followed by another series against Pakistan, who are already in New Zealand but face COVID-19 issues; a few members have been infected.
Across the border, there is another Test Series between Australia and India.
The competition consists of four matches, and the Series looks to be another cracker after the two sides entertained in 2018-2019.
With the Series to come later this month, let us now enjoy the one going on between West Indies and New Zealand.
The Series is a crucial one for New Zealand, running to make the Test Championship finals.
On the other hand, Jason Holder’s men have made incredible strides in recent times and competed well against England in the Test series earlier in the year.
They lost 2-1 but fought admirably and exceeded a lot of expectations.
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