Test Cricket - Test Status

Test Status

Test matches are a subset of first-class cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status," as determined by the International Cricket Council. As of 2011, ten national teams have Test status, the most recent being Bangladesh in 2000. Zimbabwe was a Test nation, but voluntarily suspended their test status due to poor performance. The team made its return on 4 August 2011 against Bangladesh.

A list of matches, defined as "Tests," was first drawn up by Australian Clarence Moody in the mid 1890s. Representative matches played by simultaneous England touring sides of 1911–12 (in Australia and South Africa) and 1929–30 (in the West Indies and New Zealand) are deemed to have "Test status."

In 1970, a series of five "Test matches" was played in England between England and a Rest of the World XI. These matches were originally scheduled to be contested by England and South Africa, but were amended after South Africa was suspended from international cricket due to their government's policy of apartheid. Although initially given unofficial Test status (and included as Test matches in some record books, notably Wisden), this was later withdrawn and a principle was established that official Test matches can only be between nations. The series of "Test matches" played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971/72 do not have Test status. The commercial "Supertests" organised by Kerry Packer as part of his World Series Cricket enterprise and played between "WSC Australia," "WSC World XI" and "WSC West Indies" from 1977 to 1979 have never been regarded as having official Test match status.

In 2005, the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place in October 2005, between Australia and a World XI, was an official Test match. This ICC decision was taken despite a precedent (e.g. the ICC's earlier ruling on the 1970 England v Rest of the World series) that only matches between nations should be given Test match status. Many cricket writers and statisticians, particularly Bill Frindall, have decided to ignore the ICC's ruling and have excluded the 2005 match from their records.