63-466: Arthur Theodore Wallace Grout (30 March 1927 – 9 November 1968), known as Wally Grout , was a Test cricketer who kept wicket for Australia and Queensland . Grout played in 51 Test matches between 1957 and 1966. He made his Test debut against South Africa at Wanderers Stadium , during which he caught a record six wickets behind the stumps in the For many years, Grout played second fiddle to Don Tallon in
126-417: A rhyming slang for a "Shout" (round). This poetic colloquialism arises in the context of drinking in a drinking establishment such as a pub, as in "And be sure to get your Wally Grout (shout) in." Here, a statement such as "It's your Wally" is a notification that it is the listener's turn to buy a round of drinks (a shout ). "Grout ignored doctor's warnings about his weak heart and kept on playing until he
189-545: A bad start, and allowed eight byes in the first innings in what he called "a severe attack of the fumbles". During the second innings, he was helped by some inspired bowling from Alan Davidson and took what was then a record six catches behind the stumps. Grout was impressed at the grounds and the hospitality on the South African tour, yet it was not without its risks; early on, some of the Australians (not Grout) were quoted in
252-437: A heart attack in 1964. Yet Wally's unfailingly cheerful demeanour gave no inkling that there might be anything amiss with him." Test cricket First-class cricket One Day International Limited overs (domestic) Twenty20 International Twenty20 (domestic) Other forms Test Cricket is a format of the sport of cricket , considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as
315-469: A league competition for Test cricket was held in 2019–2021 . Arranged as a bilateral series in various countries with one team as host and another team as visitor. The length of each series varies between 2 and 5 matches. Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are not taking part in this competition, but instead play a program of Test matches with each other and other teams during the same period. Supporters of Test cricket, including Adam Gilchrist , argue that it
378-422: A professional tour and Fred Grace for an amateur one. Grace's tour fell through and it was Lillywhite's team that toured New Zealand and Australia in 1876–77. Two matches against a combined Australian XI were later classified as the first official Test matches. The first match was won by Australia, by 45 runs and the second by England. After reciprocal tours established a pattern of international cricket, The Ashes
441-509: A shout by Grout was Ken Barrington calling him for a run and he was run out as England collapsed to 241 all out on the first day and lost by an innings, Grout taking 3 catches in the second innings. In the first innings of the Fifth Test he took 4 catches in his last Test to bring his total to 15 catches and 1 stumping in the series as Australia retained the Ashes with a 1–1 draw. Don Bradman noted
504-608: Is "the ultimate test of a player's and team's ability". However, it has been suggested that Test cricket may be losing popularity, particularly in the face of competition from short form cricket . Day/night Test matches have been suggested as one way to address this problem. The suggested fall in popularity has been disputed, with a Marylebone Cricket Club poll showing that 86% of all cricket fans support Test cricket, more than any other format. Neil Adcock Neil Amwin Treharne Adcock (8 March 1931 – 6 January 2013)
567-407: Is 150 or more fewer than Team A's. During the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley in 2013, England batted first after the first day was lost because of rain. New Zealand, batting second, scored 180 runs fewer than England, meaning England could have enforced the follow-on, though chose not to. This is similar to four-day first-class cricket, where the follow-on can be enforced if
630-587: The ICC Intercontinental Cup , under conditions which are similar to Tests. The teams with Test status (with the date of each team's Test debut) are: Nine of these teams represent independent sovereign nations: the England cricket team represents the constituent countries of England and Wales , the West Indies is a combined team from fifteen Caribbean nations and territories, and Ireland represents both
693-520: The International Cricket Council . As of June 2017 , twelve national teams have Test status, the most recently promoted being Afghanistan and Ireland on 22 June 2017. Test status is conferred upon a country or group of countries by the ICC. There are currently twelve men's teams that have been granted this status: international teams that do not have Test status can play first-class cricket in
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#1732883647144756-530: The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 1877 between teams which were then known as a Combined Australian XI and James Lillywhite 's XI, the latter a team of visiting English professionals. Matches between Australia and England were first called "test matches" in 1892. The first definitive list of retrospective Tests was written by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody two years later and, by
819-502: The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland . Following the D'Oliveira affair in 1969, South Africa was suspended from all forms of cricket from 1970 until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991 . Zimbabwe's Test status was voluntarily suspended in 2006 because of very poor performances, but its Test status was reinstated in August 2011. The ICC has made several proposals to reform
882-641: The three international matches which had just been played in Australia by Lord Sheffield's XI , starting with the match at the MCG which was billed as Lord Sheffield's Team v Combined Australia. The report began: "There was no little appropriateness in fixing the first of the three great test matches for January 1". The first list of matches considered to be "Tests" was conceived and published by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody in his 1894 book, Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893–94 . Moody's proposal
945-421: The "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of international cricket where two teams in white clothing, each representing a country, compete over a match that can last up to five days. It consists of four innings (two per team), maximum of ninety overs are scheduled to be bowled per day making it the sport with the longest playing time. A team wins the match by outscoring
1008-712: The 1947–48 season as Tallon was playing for Australia in the Test series against India ; initially hopeful for the Queensland keeper spot, he was overlooked in favour of future Australian hockey captain Douglas Siggs . Queensland state selector Vic Honour had reminded Grout that Siggs was a better batsman, but Grout disagreed, noting that the keeper is responsible for the runs of every wicket missed. He stated: Grout finally played as keeper for Queensland in 1949 as Tallon decided to switch to spin bowling. This lasted only one match, however;
1071-574: The 1959–60 summer, and captain Richie Benaud insisted Jarman play two tests as almost all games on the tour were Test matches. Upon return, much of the team were struck down with hepatitis, and the exhausted Grout and Ray Lindwall were the only two test players able to play for Queensland in a match against Western Australia, but during the match Grout picked up eight wickets in a single innings. Grout had his jaw broken while keeping to Queensland's West Indian fast-bowler Wes Hall in their match against
1134-488: The 1980s, it was usual to include a 'rest day,' often a Sunday. There have also been ' Timeless Tests ', which have no predetermined maximum time. In 2005, Australia played a match scheduled for six days against a World XI, which the ICC sanctioned as an official Test match, though the match reached a conclusion on the fourth day. In October 2017, the ICC approved a request for a four-day Test match, between South Africa and Zimbabwe , which started on 26 December 2017 and ended on
1197-663: The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. Grout reported first becoming engrossed in cricket at age seven, seeing Australia international wicket-keeper Don Tallon play at Perry Park in Brisbane. He took to the game well and was later picked for Brisbane schoolboys as an opening batsman . However, future fellow Queensland Sheffield Shield player Leyland Sanders was preferred as wicket keeper. While at school, Grout played C Grade cricket for Valley and from age 14, for Souths, before settling at Toombul District Cricket Club – also
1260-579: The English team was testing itself against each of the Australian colonies. Following Lillywhite's tour, Australian teams reciprocated, beginning with Dave Gregory's team in 1878 . By the beginning of 1892, eight English teams had visited Australia and seven Australian teams had visited England. In its issue of 25 February 1892, Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game revived the term "test match" and freely applied it to
1323-546: The ICC's goal of having one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats of international cricket, it is the premier championship for Test cricket. Teams designated as "England" or "All England" began to play in the 18th century, but these teams were not truly representative. Early international cricket was disrupted by the French Revolution and the American Civil War . The earliest international cricket match
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#17328836471441386-495: The ICC's ruling and exclude this match from their records. The series of "Test matches" played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971–72, and the commercial " Supertests " organised by Kerry Packer as part of his World Series Cricket enterprise played between "WSC Australia", "WSC World XI" and "WSC West Indies" from 1977 to 1979, have never been regarded as official Test matches as of 2021. A standard day of Test cricket consists of three sessions of two hours each,
1449-549: The ICC, the sport's governing body, to introduce day-night Test matches . In 2012, the International Cricket Council passed playing conditions that allowed for the staging of day-night Test matches. The first day-night Test took place during New Zealand's tour to Australia in November 2015. Test cricket is played in innings (the word denotes both the singular and the plural). In each innings, one team bats and
1512-591: The ICC. An elite panel of eleven umpires was maintained since 2002, and the panel is supplemented by an additional International Panel that includes three umpires named by each Test-playing country. The elite umpires officiate almost all Test matches, though usually not Tests involving their home country. Several pairs of Test teams have established perpetual trophies which are competed for whenever teams play each other in Test series. The current ones are: The twelve Test-playing nations are currently ranked as follows: After years of delays since proposals began in 2009,
1575-500: The MCC a week before the First Test of the 1962–63 Ashes series . He was replaced in the first three Tests by South Australia's Barry Jarman , who played only seven Tests until Grout retired in 1966. In 1964 he famously refused to run out Fred Titmus when he was knocked over by an Australian fielder in the 1964 Ashes series , but sportingly let him return to the crease. Grout's last Test
1638-497: The PM had just lost his and his wife's votes. Grout played his first Test on home soil on 5 December 1958, in front of a home-town crowd at Brisbane; he was very nervous. Early in the match, he caught Tom Graveney off the bowling of Davidson, which was to be the first of twenty wickets he picked up for the series, equalling Don Tallon's record in Ashes series. Australia went on to win the series 4–0. Grout then toured India and Pakistan over
1701-404: The Queensland state team, and was unable to cement a regular spot as wicket keeper until Tallon's retirement in 1953. In a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at Brisbane in 1960, he took 8 catches in an innings, setting a world record. He died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 41, only 3 years after ending his playing career. On 27 January 2016 Wally was inducted into
1764-590: The West Indies and New Zealand ), all of whose international matches 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, originally scheduled between England and South Africa, were amended after South Africa was suspended from international cricket due to their government's apartheid policies. Although initially given Test status and included as Test matches in some record books, including Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , this
1827-567: The Year in 1961. The previous year in South Africa's tour of England he took 26 wickets in the Tests and 108 wickets in total at an average of 14. In doing so he became the only fast bowler to take more than 100 wickets in a tour of England. It was a controversial tour with his bowling partner Geoff Griffin being no-balled for throwing. After retiring from cricket he became a radio commentator and worked in
1890-666: The ball is visible from the time it is bowled. "Asked by an Englishman if he'd attended a public school, he replied: "Eton. And drinkin'."" Grout loved billiards, and met champion Indian billiards player Wilson Jones in Kolkata in 1960; the test team cheered Wilson in the World Amateur Billiards Championship , which was being held at the same time as the test. In sports, prominent athletes often receive nicknames that then become widely used once they meet with popular approval. Grout's personality added his last name as
1953-405: The batting side is nine wickets down at the scheduled tea break, then the interval may be delayed until either 30 minutes has elapsed or the team is all out ; the final session may be extended by up to 30 minutes if 90 or more overs have not been bowled in that day's play (subject to any reduction for adverse weather); the final session may be extended by 30 minutes (except on the 5th day) if
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2016-524: The bilateral nature of Test cricket: the 1912 Triangular Tournament , a three-way competition between England, Australia and South Africa (hosted by England), and the Asian Test Championship , an event held in 1998–99 and 2001–02. The number of matches in Test series has varied from one to seven. Up until the early 1990s, Test series between international teams were organised between the two national cricket organisations with umpires provided by
2079-413: The break between sessions being 40 minutes for lunch and 20 minutes for tea. However, the times of sessions and intervals may be altered in certain circumstances: if bad weather or a change of innings occurs close to a scheduled break, the break may be taken immediately; if there has been a loss of playing time, for example because of bad weather, the session times may be adjusted to make up the lost time; if
2142-481: The case in Test cricket, as mandated by the ICC Clothing and Equipment Regulations. Test cricket is almost always played as a series of matches between two countries, with all matches in the series taking place in the same country (the host). Often there is a perpetual trophy that is awarded to the winner, the most famous of which is the Ashes contested between England and Australia. There have been two exceptions to
2205-517: The club of Don Tallon – where he was selected as wicket keeper in Tallon's absence. He also played Australian Rules and Rugby union . Grout's early nickname in Shield cricket was "The Voice", from his habit of joking and talking behind the stumps. He was unable to play in his favoured role as keeper due to the presence of Australian keeper Don Tallon . Grout described what he felt was his biggest setback in
2268-502: The completion of Team B's first innings, Team A leads by at least 200 runs, the captain of Team A may (but is not required to) order Team B to have their second innings next. This is called enforcing the follow-on . In this case, the usual order of the third and fourth innings is reversed: Team A will bat in the fourth innings. It is rare for a team forced to follow-on to win the match. In Test cricket it has only happened four times, although over 285 follow-ons have been enforced. Australia
2331-421: The decision to take the new ball if he wishes to continue with his spinners (because the pitch favours spin). After a new ball has been taken, should an innings last a further 80 overs, then the captain will have the option to take another new ball. A Test match will produce a result by means of one of six scenarios: Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit. Unlike in limited overs cricket , this remains
2394-521: The difference is 150 runs or more. If the Test is two days or fewer then the "follow-on" value is 100 runs. After 80 overs, the captain of the bowling side may take a new ball , although this is not required. The captain will usually take the new ball: being harder and smoother than an old ball, a new ball generally favours faster bowlers who can make it bounce more variably. The roughened, softer surface of an old ball can be more conducive to spin bowlers, or those using reverse swing . The captain may delay
2457-459: The end of the century, had gained acceptance. Day/night Tests were permitted by the ICC in 2012 and the first day/night match was between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November 2015. The ICC World Test Championship is the international championship of Test cricket. It is a league competition run by the ICC, with its inaugural season starting in 2019 . In line with
2520-441: The first-class statistical record, but performances in Test matches count towards both the Test statistics and the first-class statistics. Statisticians have developed criteria to determine which matches count as Tests if they were played before the formal definition of Test status. There have been exceptional circumstances including the simultaneous England touring sides of 1891–92 ( in Australia and South Africa ) and 1929–30 ( in
2583-417: The home team. With the entry of more countries into Test cricket, and a wish by the ICC to maintain public interest in Tests in the face of the popularity of One Day International cricket , a rotation system was introduced that sees all ten Test teams playing each other over a six-year cycle, and an official ranking system (with a trophy held by the highest-ranked team). In this system, umpires are provided by
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2646-466: The last session. He improved his fitness and was one of two wicket keepers selected for the 1957–58 tour of South Africa. Grout's competitor for the Test spot was Barry Jarman , and to make matters worse, he had sustained a hairline thumb fracture. Downplayed the injury, he picked up 95 in an innings at Benoni and was given the nod. He made his Test debut in the first test against South Africa at Wanderers Stadium on 23–28 December 1957. Grout got off to
2709-525: The local press as being unimpressed with the South African opening bowlers Adcock and Heine , this fired them up and Grout and teammate Les Favell copped a barrage of fearsome bowling in a match against Transvaal . The two fired down numerous bouncers against the Australians in the last innings of the fifth test. Grout and Neil Harvey faced danger of a different kind as the two were chased by elephants and lions in Wanke Games Reserve after Harvey left
2772-485: The opposition in the batting or bowl out in bowling , otherwise the match ends in a draw . It is contested by 12 teams which are the full-members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The term "test match" was originally coined in 1861–62 but in a different context. Test cricket did not become an officially recognised format until the 1890s, but many international matches since 1877 have been retrospectively awarded Test status. The first such match took place at
2835-432: The other bowls (or fields ). Ordinarily four innings are played in a Test match, and each team bats twice and bowls twice. Before the start of play on the first day, the two team captains and the match referee toss a coin ; the captain who wins the toss decides whether his team will bat or bowl first. In the following scenarios, the team that bats first is referred to as Team A and their opponents as Team B . Usually
2898-481: The second day, 27 December. The ICC trialed the four-day Test format until the 2019 Cricket World Cup . In December 2019, Cricket Australia were considering playing four-day Tests, subject to consensus with other Test nations. Later the same month, the ICC considered the possibility of making four-day Test matches mandatory for the ICC World Test Championship from 2023. There have been attempts by
2961-512: The selectors were unhappy and Tallon resumed keeping. Grout entertained hopes of playing for Australia against Len Hutton 's English touring side in 1954, but Victorian Len Maddocks was selected, and played all five Tests despite having an injured finger. He was again overlooked as Gil Langley and Maddocks were the two keepers selected for the 1956 tour of England. His friend and fellow Queensland player Ken "Slasher" Mackay advised him that he lacked fitness, and that his form badly tailed off in
3024-458: The side to be "the best ever to have left England". South Africa became the third team to play Test cricket in 1888–89, when they hosted a tour by an under-strength England side. Australia, England and South Africa were the only countries playing Test cricket before World War I . The term "test match" was coined during the English tour of Australia in 1861–62 but in a different context. It meant that
3087-416: The similarity in footwork, "swoop" and aggression between Grout and Don Tallon. Grout described Australian teammate Alan Davidson as his "bread and butter", and snared 48 of his first 100 victims from his bowling. He took plenty of outside edges from late-swinging balls. He hated keeping to off-spinners as the ball is often obscured by the batsman until it is too late; this is in contrast to leg spinners where
3150-419: The system of granting Test status, including having two tiers with promotion and relegation , or a play-off between the winners of the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the team with the lowest Test ranking . These proposals have not been successful as of 2024. For statistical purposes , Tests are considered to be a subset of first-class cricket . Performances in first-class matches count towards only
3213-423: The teams will alternate at the completion of each innings. Thus, Team A will bat (and Team B will bowl) until its innings ends, and then Team B will bat and Team A will bowl. When Team B's innings ends, Team A begin their second innings, and this is followed by Team B's second innings. The winning team is the one that scores more runs in their two innings. A team's innings ends in one of the following ways: If, at
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#17328836471443276-400: The umpires believe the result can be decided within that time. Today, Test matches are scheduled to be played across five consecutive days. However, in the early days of Test cricket, matches were played for three or four days. England hosted Ireland at Lord's on 1st June 2023 for a four-day test. Four-day Test matches were last played in 1973, between New Zealand and Pakistan . Until
3339-403: The vehicle attempting to get a better shot. Australia never lost a series in which Grout played. It was in South Africa that Neil Harvey gave Grout the nickname "Griz", referring to the keeper's habit of complaining ("grizzling") about poor returns from fieldsmen. This replaced the hated "Grouty"; once, when addressed this way by the then Prime Minister Robert Menzies , Grout had replied that
3402-449: Was 39 – and died from a heart attack less than three years later." His obituary in Wisden commented: "Grout entered hospital only two days before his death. A Brisbane doctor was afterwards reported as saying that Grout knew that he might collapse at any time during the last four years of his Test career and that he took part in the Australian tour of the West Indies only a few months after
3465-569: Was a South African international cricketer who played in 26 Test matches . A tall aggressive fast bowler, he could lift the ball sharply off a length. He was the first South African fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets . Adcock was born on 8 March 1931 in Sea Point , Cape Town . While his father was away on active service he began to play cricket. He stayed with people on a farm at Besters near Ladysmith in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal ). His schooling
3528-453: Was at St. Charles at Maritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal , Grey High School at Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha ), and at Jeppe High School in Johannesburg . He made his Test debut in 1953 at home against New Zealand, after only nine first-class games. He finished the series with 24 wickets, including 8 for 87 in the two innings of his second Test. Adcock was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of
3591-494: Was between the United States and Canada , on 24 and 26 September 1844 (bad weather prevented play on the 25th). Overseas tours by national English teams began in 1859 with visits to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The 1868 Australian Aboriginals were the first organised overseas team to tour England. Two rival English tours of Australia were proposed in the early months of 1877, with James Lillywhite campaigning for
3654-521: Was established as a competition during the Australian tour of England in 1882. A surprise victory for Australia inspired a mock obituary of English cricket to be published in the Sporting Times the following day: the phrase "The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" prompted the subsequent creation of the Ashes urn. The series of 1884–85 was the first to be held over five matches: England player Alfred Shaw , writing in 1901, considered
3717-484: Was later withdrawn, and a principle was established that official Test matches can only be between nations (the geographically and demographically small countries of the West Indies have, since 1928, fielded a coalition side). Despite this principle, in 2005, the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place that October between Australia and a World XI was an official Test match: some cricket writers and statisticians, including Bill Frindall , have ignored
3780-644: Was played in the 1965–66 Ashes series . In the first innings of the Second Test he took 3 catches in an innings and although Australia lost the Third Test at Sydney by an innings Colin Cowdrey , M.J.K. Smith , Dave Brown and Jim Parks were caught by Grout off Neil Hawke in succession. Grout then snapped up Fred Titmus off Doug Walters to give him five catches in an innings. In the Fourth Test Cowdrey thought
3843-421: Was the losing team on three occasions, having lost twice to England, in 1894 and in 1981, and once to India in 2001. Most recently, on February 24, 2023, England lost to New Zealand by one run after enforcing the follow-on. If the whole of the first day's play of a Test match has been lost because of bad weather or other reasons like bad light, then Team A may enforce the follow-on if Team B's first innings total
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#17328836471443906-540: Was the unlisted 1890 Old Trafford match that was abandoned without a ball being bowled. No South African matches were included in Moody's list but three against England were also given retrospective Test status. Moody became a newspaper editor and founded the Adelaide Sunday Mail in 1912. Test matches are the highest level of cricket, played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by
3969-520: Was well received by Charles W. Alcock , editor of Cricket in England and his list of 39 matches was reproduced in the 28 December 1894 issue as part of an article entitled "The First Test Match". The list begins with the MCG match played 15–17 March 1877 and ends with the recent match at the Association Ground, Sydney played 14–20 December 1894. All 39 were retrospectively recognised as Test matches, as
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