The Lord’s test match between England and India finished around 5 PM yesterday (14/7/25) when Mohammed Siraj played on to a ball from Bashir. It was the tiniest of taps, kiss almost, and a damp squib to end what had been an astonishing test match. While commentators waxed lyrical about how this test had been one of the most exciting ever and a magnificent validation of the longer form of cricket.
I’ve never needed any persuading. Five-day test match cricket is, to my mind, the ultimate expression of the game, indeed for me at least the only true path. Even at my school, we were encouraged to respect the longest form of the game, with all its subtleties and nuances. The summer season invariably ended with a match against Rugby played at Lord’s over two long days. In schoolboy terms this was a proper test match. And the school was not without some degree of cricketing success – the college produced a dozen or so county level players, Christopher Martin-Jenkins perhaps the most immediately recognisable name. Several went on to play for England, with one – AG Steel – an England captain, playing in the first ever test match in 1880.
I wonder what these boys would make of all the shenanigans at Lord’s in this test. It’s all very well saying that, in the heat of battle, passions run high and the occasional unguarded remark might slip out. That doesn’t wash. The behaviour of the players in this most recent encounter has, in my view, crossed a line. To regard a tirade of profanities delivered directly at batsmen by bowlers and fielders (it’s usually that way round) as acceptable even in the cauldron of emotions sets a dangerous precedent.
I abhor sledging in any form. In its own way it is an admission of defeat. A bowler who sledges a batsmen is, in essence, admitting that he cannot dislodge the batsman by skill alone. In this most recent test match, behaviour has reached a new low. Siraj, rightly fined and punished for his behaviour earlier is merely symptomatic – there were plenty of others who transgressed in equally or worse manners. Carse grappling with an Indian batsman overstepped in many ways.
On some occasions, the misbehaviour threatened to boil over into actual fisticuffs. Again, it is unpardonable. What game to the players think they are playing? Football? How long before we have individual players nose to nose with the umpires contesting their judgement. And the umpires in this test hardly distinguished themselves with a number of incorrect decisions, sometimes reversed by VAR. On occasion they simply stood like rabbits in the headlights uncertain of what was taking place and how to deal with it.
Many are looking forward to Old Trafford, relishing the opportunity to resume hostilities between the two sides. Others, myself included, fear for the future of a game which tolerates this kind of behaviour. Rugby for instance is adjudicated with absolute authority by the referees. Referees are addressed as Sir when they are addressed at all. Players are not invited to offer opinions on a passage of play or to direct comments to a wider audience. Swearing is proscribed. Punishment is instant and severe.
Compare this to football. Players standing and shrieking in the face of a referee whose analysis of the game differed from their own is the modern norm. Players may surround and jostle the referee. It happens.
I fear we will look back on this test in years to come as a pivotal point. We stand at a crossroads. By all means, celebrate a marvellous test match from a purely cricketing stance. But let’s not delude ourselves that this outweighs any misbehaviour. It doesn’t. Cricket remains a family game, perhaps even more so nowadays. So let’s have an end to this misbehaviour. Giving a departing batsmen a ‘sendoff’ is wholly unnecessary. Nothing is more eloquent than silence.