Test cricket is not just runs and wickets

Seduced by the notion that 350 runs in a day's play is entertainment, we sometimes ignore that it can be a chore to sit through when the bowling lacks penetration, writes Gideon Haigh in the Daily Telegraph.

For the media to complain about the entertainment value on the basis of the runs scored was like a complaint against Picasso for using too few brush-strokes.

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Here is a tension. We are anxious that Tests justify themselves as spectacle, but can't abandon the idea that more is at stake. It is a neurosis rooted in Twenty20's intimidating popularity, and Test cricket's abiding hold on our imaginations. In fact this Border-Gavaskar Trophy has given great value. Two exquisitely-matched teams with a lot of history and good cause to distrust one another have shown a ton of courage, skill and even civility.