Test cricket

Test cricket is the highest standard of cricket. A Test match is an international fixture, invariably part of a series of three to five games, between two teams that have Full Member status within the International Cricket Council (ICC). The teams have two innings each, and the match lasts for up to five days with a scheduled six hours of play on each day (this varies if there are interruptions due to the weather, or if an agreed number of overs is not completed within the six hours).

Australian Test team in 1928

Men's Test cricket began with Australia versus England in 1877, although the early Tests were in fact classified as such retrospectively. Women's Test cricket began in 1934, with Australia Women hosting England Women.

Subsequently, ten other countries have achieved men's Test status: South Africa (1889), West Indies (1928), New Zealand (1929), India (1932), Pakistan (1952), Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992), Bangladesh (2000), Afghanistan (2017), and Ireland (2017). The West Indies is a federation whose team is made up of players from nations including Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, the Leewards and the Windwards. England is actually England and Wales combined (Scotland is separate, although many Scots have played for England); similarly, Ireland is an all-Ireland combination. In women's cricket, the teams that have played Test matches are Australia Women, England Women, India Women, Netherlands Women, New Zealand Women, South Africa Women and West Indies Women.

In the past, a few Test matches were "timeless" in the sense of having no limit on the number of days to be played.^[1]