Action needed to address blemishes in Test cricket

If I had closed my eyes during play, it would have been easy to imagine that I was at a stadium in India. Chants of “India-ar” reverberated, phone calls in Hindi all around. As it was, I was in the Grand Stand at Lord’s, sitting next to British Indians, who, apart from supporting India, told me that they supported West Ham and Arsenal. We were there to witness the final day’s play of this summer’s third Test match between England and India, one balanced on a knife edge. It was a Monday. In anticipation of a close and exciting finish, tickets had been purchased at short notice for £25 ($33.50), a sixth of the price for previous days.

At the start of play, India’s score was 58 for four, another 135 runs required to reach a target of 193. Their cause had been damaged late on the fourth day with the loss of three wickets. The two teams had scored the same number of runs – 387 — in their first innings, only the ninth time this has occurred in 2,594 Tests.

England had eked out 192 in its second innings, a score which looked below par, until those late wickets on day four. Ninety overs were to be bowled on the fifth day. A draw was a highly unlikely outcome, but what about a tie, with all scores equal, achieved only twice in Test cricket?

The Indian supporters were nervous and not optimistic. They clapped every run, every successful defensive shot. Their hopes suffered two massive blows with the loss of two key batters. The flamboyant Rishabh Pant had his stumps splayed by England’s fastest bowler, Jofra Archer. Three overs later, KL Rahul, the dependable, solid opener, fell to Ben Stokes on review, the score 81 for six. This became 82 for seven when Archer produced a brilliant catch from his own bowling. India’s supporters