JAMTests - they are upon us

[ankitj]

When teams deliberately send under-strength teams like SA sent to NZ recently, you have to regard those tests as JAMTests. WI has been doing it for several years. India is arbitrarily resting players from tests in marquee series.

When this happens you can't realistically put a series in historical context. No one looks at WI vs. Aus series these days and thinks it is a continuation of tradition set by Border, McGrath, Ambrose, Lara several decades ago. It's mere formality to complete such tests and series.

RIP test cricket of old.

 

[Athlai]

GAGFC

 

[Athlai]

WI won a Test in Australia.

 

[ma1978]

When teams deliberately send under-strength teams like SA sent to NZ recently, you have to regard those tests as JAMTests. WI has been doing it for several years. India is arbitrarily resting players from tests in marquee series.

When this happens you can't realistically put a series in historical context. No one looks at WI vs. Aus series these days and thinks it is a continuation of tradition set by Border, McGrath, Ambrose, Lara several decades ago. It's mere formality to complete such tests and series.

RIP test cricket of old.

the only players who have been “rested” are Bumrah and Siraj. Kohli’s reasons for taking five tests off can de debated but it’s the 2020s and lot of men take paternity leave.

as far as those resting, I’d rather have top performance for four out of five tests. You saw with Siraj how gassed he was and how much better he looked in Rajkot. The bigger issue is teams like India need enough depth to be able to rest their top players esp fast bowlers.

 

[Molehill]

the only players who have been “rested” are Bumrah and Siraj. Kohli’s reasons for taking five tests off can de debated but it’s the 2020s and lot of men take paternity leave.

as far as those resting, I’d rather have top performance for four out of five tests. You saw with Siraj how gassed he was and how much better he looked in Rajkot. The bigger issue is teams like India need enough depth to be able to rest their top players esp fast bowlers.

5 Test series have long since become squad games for fast bowlers. England rotated throughout the Ashes last Summer. It's not resting, it's getting the most from your squad.

The NZ v SA series though should be scrubbed from the WTC, makes a mockery of the comp (amongst other things) if that's allowed to count.

 

[Socerer 01]

didnt West Indies send a weaker team to Bangladesh once and then won there? its what made them give Brathwaite permanent captaincy

its been happening for longer than people think

 

[Socerer 01]

but to add to the spirit of the thread

Pakistan rested Shaheen in an away sena tour so that he could be fit to captain the team in a JAMT20 next lol

 

[Ali TT]

Agree with the OP.

England are playing 17 tests this year, in a year that features an overseas world cup occurring in the middle of the English summer. That's 4x3 match series in the second half of the year. As part of that, they're off touring Pakistan and New Zealand at the end of the year, despite having played test series in both countries within the past two years. Utter JAMTestFest.

 

[honestbharani]

Individual players being managed and rested has been happening for a while now and will continue. They dont make any series JAM stuff IMO. The issue with that WI-Ban series or the recent NZ-RSA series are more debatable but again, for Windies, the T20 drain will always be there given the propensity and ability of their best players in T20 format. I can kinda see the NZ-RSA series point but it does seem like a one off and the board did promise to manage it better.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

I wish to add something here, the young players coming through the system of ours prioritizes the longest format of the game.

You see Shamar, Sinclair, Motie, Kirk, Athanaze… among others.

And given the amount of tests we play in a year, other avenues will be available. I think we are seeing a decent improvement and transition between the board and players.

Hetmyer squandered his chances because his wife got into his head too much. Now, he is full-time bat for hire.

He could have been the best since the Prince.

 

[GIMH]

No Test will ever be meaningless*

*with the exception of those led by dodgy captains eg Hansie Cronje and Steve Smith

 

[SteveNZ]

Don't agree. Firstly, the SA series was an aberration. The SA board ****ed up their dates, wanted to change them, but NZ couldn't accommodate it because of the Australian tour. It was an administrative error, not a middle finger to test cricket. It wasn't deliberate.

Secondly, sides like the Windies have been sending understrength sides for decades. This is nothing new. The teams above them in the rankings generally don't.

Thirdly, Test cricket always has context. It didn't need the WTC. That occured to me last night after I thought about getting wound up by our T20 loss to Australia...it'll soon be forgotten. I can't remember T20I series'. Yet I could vividly remember every Test series against Australia going back to 1985, just after I was born. I'm still wound up by Nigel ****ing Llong in 2015 and Ian Robinson in 2001. I can vividly remember where I was when we won in Hobart, and actually for a lot of Test cricket my side has played.

So to me, no such thing as a JAM Test series. Even last week v SA, there's things I'll remember - O'Rourke on debut, Kane's tons, Bedingham being brilliant, SAs disciplined attack.

So nah it isn't meaningless. Stats matter. Memories last. Conversations and debates rage.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

PayTM test series > JAM Test Series

 

[ankitj]

This thread is from the future. Come back here in 5 years to see how it's all true.

 

[Ali TT]

Don't agree. Firstly, the SA series was an aberration. The SA board ****ed up their dates, wanted to change them, but NZ couldn't accommodate it because of the Australian tour. It was an administrative error, not a middle finger to test cricket. It wasn't deliberate.

Secondly, sides like the Windies have been sending understrength sides for decades. This is nothing new. The teams above them in the rankings generally don't.

Thirdly, Test cricket always has context. It didn't need the WTC. That occured to me last night after I thought about getting wound up by our T20 loss to Australia...it'll soon be forgotten. I can't remember T20I series'. Yet I could vividly remember every Test series against Australia going back to 1985, just after I was born. I'm still wound up by Nigel ****ing Llong in 2015 and Ian Robinson in 2001. I can vividly remember where I was when we won in Hobart, and actually for a lot of Test cricket my side has played.

So to me, no such thing as a JAM Test series. Even last week v SA, there's things I'll remember - O'Rourke on debut, Kane's tons, Bedingham being brilliant, SAs disciplined attack.

So nah it isn't meaningless. Stats matter. Memories last. Conversations and debates rage.

Yes but NZ are the exception as they only play about 8 tests a decade, so of course you remember them all.

While I'm pretty confident I could recall the results of test series that England have played in, the individual test matches have faded into a blur.

 

[Immenso]

My general response to the thread topic is "no". But it is an interesting topic. Not something I had thought about before.

On the subject of "historical context" and "continuation of tradition".

As long as things (like the SA tlur of NZ) stay a fluke anomaly, then it will remain just that. And that would be part of the "historical context" of test cricket.

I mean NZ and West Indies played their first ever test matches at the same time against entirely different England touring test sides in different sides of the world. Andy Sandham set the world record for the highest test score at the time in one of these tests.

There are parellells with the weakened WSC-depleted Ashes series of 1978/1979. There are asterisks about that series and there will be an asterisk about NZ v SA. That is fine with me. As long as it is so rare it requires an asterisk ..... Kane Williamson feasting in that series reminds me of what I know of Rodney Hogg in the 78/79 ashes.

To a lesser extent, the NZ 'bomblast' tour of Sri Lanka in 1992 where the coach and the senior players returned home before the series bega=n. Is a n example, but to a lesser extent, of historical asterisks that make test cricket's history interesting but not always uniformly top quality.

I'm sure there are others that people from other nations are more familiar with.

 

[SteveNZ]

Yes but NZ are the exception as they only play about 8 tests a decade, so of course you remember them all.

While I'm pretty confident I could recall the results of test series that England have played in, the individual test matches have faded into a blur.

In the 10 months between the first SA Test just been and the end of this year, we have 13 Tests scheduled.

 

[Immenso]

Yes but NZ are the exception as they only play about 8 tests a decade, so of course you remember them all.

While I'm pretty confident I could recall the results of test series that England have played in, the individual test matches have faded into a blur.

It's interesting, England and Spam/Jam tests.

Despite the 'reaction' by overseas fans to "England saving test cricket" that is bandied about now with bazball.

As a fan from NZ, England are doing the most to save test cricket. Due to the simple reason that they actually tour, tour often and tour everywhere (except Zim anymore). Unlike our useless Big3 neighbour who have decided make the arduous journey across the Tasman to turn up for the first time in 8 years ....

 

[SteveNZ]

This thread is from the future. Come back here in 5 years to see how it's all true.

I'll have a friendly wager with you my man - in 5 years, I believe Tests will be even more 'relevant' or meaningful. Boards will decreasingly invest in ODIs (to their detriment, in my view) and they cannot have a product that is solely dependent or mostly dependent on T20s. Then the tail starts to wag the dog even more strongly with the franchise owners and competition having an incredible amount of power, requiring international cricket's schedule to orbit around them.

Cricket will cease to exist in any meaningful way if there is ever a feeling of JAMTest to accompany JAMODIs.

Tests still are, and for a long time will be, the deeper context of our sport. Every sport needs meaning, history, deep context to exist over a long period of time. If you just exist for the wackedy-do wam bam onto the next one dopamine hit of T20, it fades away pretty quick and people move onto the next trend. I think it would be a struggle to come up with any sport that has relevance or longevity that doesn't have a deeper tradition or context to it (ie majors in tennis/golf, belts in UFC/boxing, Olympics, world champs, etc)

I know T20 has this with World Cups but no one particularly cares, and not even experts in the game particularly know the relevance or care too much about stats.

 

[SteveNZ]

It's interesting, England and Spam/Jam tests.

Despite the 'reaction' by overseas fans to "England saving test cricket" that is bandied about now with bazball.

As a fan from NZ, England are doing the most to save test cricket. Due to the simple reason that they actually tour, tour often and tour everywhere (except Zim anymore). Unlike our useless Big3 neighbour who have decided make the arduous journey across the Tasman to turn up for the first time in 8 years ....

I hear you...although I don't think it's fair to bag Australia too hard. The likes of Starc, Cummins and probably others I'm not thinking of right now, have shunned big money in the IPL to be fully available for their country. I would love Australia to tour more - I think we should be playing there or here every summer in limited overs stuff - but it isn't like we've made ourselves box office opponents in Tests since 2015.