Test Cricket vs T20: Which form of the game is best?

Test Cricket has been the premier form of the game since the inception of International Cricket. The long form of the game requires stamina, skill and patience in order to overcome your adversaries. The Test form of the game has treated sporting fans to the talents of West Indian genius Gary Sober's, Australia's batting maestro, Donald Bradman and New Zealand's pace menace, Richard Hadlee just to name a few.

Despite the illustrious tradition of the five day game, a new Knight has entered the hearts of worldwide audiences. Twenty Twenty is now reinvigorating the game, with its emphasis on big hitting, bowling variety and instant gratification. The Indian Premier League has shown just how entertaining cricket can be. Big hitting stars have arisen from the short form of the game. Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Murali Vijay, Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan have entertained fans around the world with their explosive batting performances. T20 is not seen as an immediate threat to the Test game as it requires very different skills and appeals to two different audiences. The longest form of the game attracts cricketing purists while the short form of the game attracts those with a shorter attention span and a penchant for immediate excitement.

Overall T20 has enriched the sport, as it has brought a new young audience to cricket and should ensure that we have even more talented cricketers than we have been treated to over the last century. The threat that IPL poses is that it pays the players huge sums of money that may encourage players to retire early from the Test form, in order to lengthen their careers in twenty over cricket. The best example of this I can see is Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka who has somewhat prematurely retired from International Tests, in order to focus on the 50 over and 20 over formats. Malinga is a massive loss to the 5 day game with an arsenal of bowling deliveries unrivalled among world seamers today.

The Test game is responsible for players' emphasis on technique, stroke play and temperament. T20 on the other hand is more concerned with slogging, full length bowling and bravado rather than the more noble focus of the 4 innings form.

Five day cricket is still the most revered form of the game by players but how long will this continue to be the case?

Who is the best bowler in the world?

Who is the king of bowling in the cricket world? Is it a pace bowler or a spin bowler? Who is the best at test, 50 over or T20 level?

If you look at the rankings you will see that Dale Steyn is ranked the best at Test Level and to be fair this is hard to dispute. The South African paceman regularly bowls at circa 90mph and maintains a good line and length. Graeme Swann is ranked second which reflects the fact that he is a dependable exponent of off spin who bowls accurately with variety and unpredictability. James Anderson, Morne Morkel and Zaheer Khan complete the top five. I would place Morne Morkel ahead of Zaheer and Anderson simply on the basis that his height advantage adds bounce and venom to his deliveries making him a more fearsome competitor than the Englishman and Indian bowlers respectively. Zaheer deserves fourth spot on the basis that he is the most dependable seamer in cricket. The Indian opening bowler swings the ball both ways, has a killer slower ball and ranks among the best his country has ever produced alongside, Javagal Srinath and Kapil Dev. Jimmy Anderson has become an accomplished exponent of swing bowling, delivering consistently at around 85mph, Anderson' bowling combines pace, swing and bounce.

In the shorter forms of the game Lasith Malinga leads the game with the best in-swinging yorker since Waqar Younis. At The IPL Malinga was streets ahead of the competition, scaring his opponents with his full length deliveries and bamboozling batsmen with his low slung 'skidders' as described by pundits. The only thing stopping Malinga challenging the Test ranks is that he has decided to retire from this form of the game.

Other bowlers of note include Chris Tremlett who bowls a brisk pace with dramatic bounce, as a result of his towering 6 foot 5 frame, Doug Bollinger, a brisk left arm fast medium bowler who is adept at bowling a disciplined line and length, Mitchell Johnson, the Australian pace machine and Umar Gul, the Pakistani star who is known for his usefulness at the death of the shorter forms of the game.

England vs India : Forthcoming Test Match Cricket Classic. Who has the edge?

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Although the current Sri Lanka vs England contest is interesting, I would like to look forward to the real match of the Summer involving India and England. The Indian side will once again contain many of the finest batsmen in the world namely Tendulkar, Ghambir, Sehwag, Singh, the list seems endless. The England top order is also impressive but comes up just short in comparison to the Indian offering. Alastair Cook will need to lead from the front and continue to cement his reputation as the most consistent Test opener in World cricket. I think Andrew Strauss's position is in question. The successful England Captain looked tentative against Sri Lanka and will know the pressure is on to cement his place as a genuine run scorer rather than as a by product of his captaincy. Kevin Pietersen has shown glimpses of his great talent in recent weeks but he will have to return to his free flowing, unhindered style if England are to win this series. In many ways the key to England's success will be Jonathon Trott. The ever dependable Trott will have to continue grinding out measured, frustrating and workman like innings to bolster the England totals.

We saw at the most recent Ashes series that England now have a credible pace attack, that can cause any team problems. The aggressive displays of Chris Tremlett have added a much needed dose of pace, bounce and guile to the England side. James Anderson is as good a swing bowler as any at the minute and Stuart Broad has grown into an accurate exponent of away swing as well. Graeme Swann will be required to take key wickets and frustrate the Indian stars with containing accuracy and concentration hindering variety.

The issues which will decide this test will be the effectiveness of the Indian bowling and the performance of England's batting line up. In Terms of batting the sides are fairly evenly matched with India holding a slight advantage. In terms of bowling and fielding I believe England are in the ascendency. Much will depend on the world's best left arm Seamer, Zaheer Khan who is able to swing the ball both ways and tie down batsmen with his consistent ability to sustain his line and length. Harbhajan Singh will look to generate turn in the latter days of tests and Ishant Sharma will bring the pace and bounce he displayed at the Indian Premier League. The Indian side is to be announced on July 2nd so I am speculating a little bit. Munaf Patel, R.P. Singh and Sreesanth are also credible possible selections.

One thing is certain, this match is going to be outstanding. My Tip? I will wait for both official sides  to be announced before I commit myself!