In praise of slow sport

AMONG the many things people find mysterious about cricket is how anyone can remain interested in a match that can last for 5 days - and perhaps still finish without a decisive result. But the second Test match of the summer between England and New Zealand this month (the third and last Test is now underway) was an excellent illustration of the pleasures of elongated sporting contests.

The game ended at 5.24 pm on the fifth day, with an English victory. Such a result had seemed unlikely 3 days earlier, after New Zealand had scored a massive total of 553 runs in their first innings. Even in the middle of the fifth afternoon, when England, chasing 299 to win, had scored only 93 with 4 of their 10 wickets down, New Zealand still looked the likelier winners. But magnificent displays of hitting by Jonny Bairstow and the captain, Ben Stokes, saw England home.

Technically, 4 outcomes were possible at the start of the day, including victories for either side. Had England scored 298 and lost all their wickets, the game would have been a tie (a very rare event). More likely, had England scored fewer than 299, without being all out, the game would have been classed as a draw. Draws get a bad rap but can still be exciting. In 1963, England’s Colin Cowdrey went in to bat with a broken arm against the West Indies because his team had just one wicket left to fall. The other batsman survived, and so the game was drawn. Sometimes, teams can avoid defeat because tailenders (the worst batters) doggedly defend for the last few minutes when surrounded by fielders and pounded by hostile fast bowlers.