What was the last great Test match?

[Sin Nombre]

I was looking at Raymann's thread and thinking that I cannot think of any recent great test matches.


A great test match for me is where both teams win about the same number of sessions and the momentum keeps swinging from one team to the other.

Classic examples for me growing up were
India vs Pakistan Chennai 98
India vs Australia Eden 2001
England vs Australia Edgbaston 2005

And I cannot think of any in the last 5 years or so.

Both India's chase in Adelaide and Pakistan's at Gabba was exciting but were made possible by declarations by Australia.

There have been some low scoring matches but those aren't necessarily great. Exciting and close, yes, but do not involve the twists and turns that makes great cricket.


Maybe India vs SL at Galle?

 

[Bilal7]

The England vs Pakistan series last year was a great series, where both teams competed really hard. All of those matches except the second one, can be seen as great test matches.

The first Australia vs Pakistan test was also a great one. South Africa vs Australia 2013 was another great test series, full of close matches and individual brilliance.

There have been a lot of them over the last five years, if you've been paying attention. Of course, these things are also subjective like the OP's post proves.

If there weren't any great test matches for five years, I would have given up on cricket by now.

 

[Sin Nombre]

Great =/= Exciting.

Most teams play positive cricket and most batting lineup are prone to collapsing which is why the 2010s has the highest result % of any decade.

Even the very last test match between BD and NZ had an exciting finish.

My question is about great test matches where one team was being dominant before being beaten by ATG individual performances to force a win out of a loss.

Another example of a great test match would be Lara + Walsh beating the 99 Aussies from a dismal position.

Similarly, in the 2001 test, VVS' knock and Harbhajan's spell will be long remembered. Same for Flintoff in 2005.

 

[Bilal7]

Great =/= Exciting.

Most teams play positive cricket and most batting lineup are prone to collapsing which is why the 2010s has the highest result % of any decade.

Even the very last test match between BD and NZ had an exciting finish.

My question is about great test matches where one team was being dominant before being beaten by ATG individual performances to force a win out of a loss.

Another example of a great test match would be Lara + Walsh beating the 99 Aussies from a dismal position.

Similarly, in the 2001 test, VVS' knock and Harbhajan's spell will be long remembered. Same for Flintoff in 2005.

You said that a great test match for you is one where both teams win the same numbers of sessions and momentum keeps shifting. Now you're saying something totally different. Which is it?

 

[MMHS]

BD-ENG at CTG - the match was changing hands with every wicket almost through out & it could have been any winner till 39th wicket.

But, the quality of cricket wasn't of the highest quality.

 

[Sin Nombre]

You said that a great test match for you is one where both teams win the same numbers of sessions and momentum keeps shifting. Now you're saying something totally different. Which is it?

How is that totally different?

Momentum changes almost always happen as a result of great individual differences.


MMHS gets the idea but it wasn't a particularly high quality match.

 

[khurram39]

We had a great test match at the start of this year NZ Vs BNG

 

[Slog]

Lot of the good recent test matches are those which got really exciting on the last couple of days but were a bit of a drag for the inital days

Seems to be the case in recent times

I would say the Lords Test we won was competitive and quality cricket almost the entirety of the four days

 

[Arham_PakFan]

This is quite subjective and depends on your definition of 'great'.

For me personally,the Lords test and the Gabba near-win were great matches because they were exciting.The Dubai test vs England in 2012 was also great because both teams won an equal number of sessions,the quality of cricket was not that good though.SL's 2 tests in their England tour of 2014 also had 2 great matches.Bangladesh vs England last year also had 2 great matches.