The Guardian view on Test cricket: slow-burning intensity can deliver the finest sporting pleasures | Editorial

The dramatic Lord’s Test between England and India showcased the glories of the game’s traditional formNever try to explain Test cricket to an American. In sport, Americans value brevity, drama, a guaranteed resolution. Draws are anathema and ways must be found to avoid them. Two enterprising journalists once took Groucho Marx to an MCC game at Lord’s and he pronounced it “a wonderful cure for insomnia”.What Groucho would have made of the “timeless” Test in Durban in March 1939 – it had been going on for 10 days before England, close to victory, decided that they had to catch the boat home – doesn’t bear thinking about. George Bernard Shaw summed it up perfectly: “The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.”Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

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