Test cricket

Test Cricket

A Test match between South Africa and England in January 2007. The two men wearing black trousers are the umpires. Test cricket is played in traditional white clothes and usually with a red ball – a pink ball in full 1 day/night Tests
Highest governing body	ICC
Characteristics
Team members	Full members
Mixed-sex	No
Type	Cricket format
Glossary	Bat and stumps
Presence
Country or region	Worldwide

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Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at the international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) in which players have to play until they get all batsmen out; the match ends when all batsmen of the opposing team are out. It is scheduled to last for up to five days with 6 hours of play each day. A minimum of 90 overs are scheduled to be bowled per day making it the sport with the longest playing time. In the past, some Test matches had no time limit and were called Timeless Tests. The term "test match" was originally coined in 1861–62 but in a different context.^[1]

Test cricket did not become an officially recognised format until the 1890s, but many international matches since 1877 have been retrospectively awarded Test status. The first such match took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 1877 between teams which were then known as a Combined Australian XI and James Lillywhite's XI, the latter a team of visiting English professionals. Matches between Australia and England were first called "test matches" in 1892. The first definitive list of retrospective Tests was written by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody two years later and, by the end of the century, had gained acceptance.

There are now twelve full ICC member countries playing Test cricket. Day/night Tests were permitted by the ICC in 2012 and the first day/night match was between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November 2015.

The ICC World Test Championship is the international championship of Test cricket. It is a league competition run by the ICC, with its inaugural season starting in 2019.^[2][3] In line with the ICC's goal of having one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats of international cricket, it is the premier championship for Test cricket.^[4]