MasterstrokeFormats and competitions
Test match
The five-day format: sessions, two innings a side, the follow-on, declarations, the new ball at 80 overs and how a draw happens.
A Test match is the longest form of cricket: up to five days, two innings a side, and the only format in which a draw is a live result.
Each day is split into three sessions of roughly two hours, with a minimum of 90 overs scheduled. A team bats until it is bowled out or its captain declares. If the side batting second trails by 200 or more, the opposition may enforce the follow-on and make it bat again straight away. A fresh new ball becomes available after 80 overs. If time runs out before the fourth innings is completed, the match is a draw, which is why a team that cannot win will often bat purely for time.
Everything in a Test is slower and deeper than in the white-ball formats. Batters are judged on average rather than scoring rate, bowlers on wickets per innings rather than economy, and captains on their reading of a pitch that changes across five days. Since 2019 the leading Test nations have competed for the World Test Championship.
In Masterstroke: Tests run five days with three sessions a day, stumps and overnight recovery, a pitch that cracks and wears in front of you, and draws that are worth playing for. Day-night Tests use the pink ball.