A still from ‘The Test’

Around halfway of the second episode of the latest season of The Test, drama erupts.

English batter Jonny Bairstow ducks a bouncer, the ball goes to the keeper and the batter walks out of the crease. Pretty much a normal thing that happens during a Test match, you’d think. But there’s tense music in the background, almost like you know something is going to happen.

And then it does. Bairstow walks out of the crease thinking the over was done, and wicketkeeper Carey has thrown at the stumps and is claiming a dismissal.

“Sort of within one ball yeah, it happened,” Alex Carey recalls in the docuseries.

The crowd at Lord’s Cricket Ground would go on to chant, “Same old Aussies, always cheating,” even as a disappointed Bairstow exits.

It’s the equivalent of an action-packed interval block in the movies, the kind that leaves you on a high as you make your way through to the bathroom, probably grinning all the way at how good it is.

The current season of The Test, a sports docuseries that follows the Australian men’s cricket team, throws up such excellent moments. Following the Bairstow runout, Alex Carey is made villain in the eyes of the English public, something that affects him mentally, which his teammate Steve Smith reveals in the documentary.

The Test almost resembles a movie made on war, because of the format’s nature to be over five days. Every day, every session has some sort of an event that makes it special, and that, at times, seeps into the next day as well, as a new battle ensues. Like the one revolving around the Aussie bowling and the English openers in Old Trafford that highlights what essentially Bazball is. For the uninitiated, Bazball refers to aggressive, ultra-positive way of playing Test cricket. It makes this format far more exciting that you’d think.

Flashbacks are seldom interesting in films, but in such sports documentaries, it provides context and adds to the drama. Like that of Travis Head, who doesn’t touch a bat for weeks due to his wedding and shows up big time at the World Test Championship against India. Or Nathan Lyon, off tour due to a calf injury – the events of him walking out to bat under such circumstances were dramatic – and watching the rest of the series with his wife in his drawing room back in Australia, while his teammates slog it out in England.

Directed by Sheldon Wynne and Adrian Brown, The Test also cleverly brings in the highs and lows of the game; case in point being how the Aussies, after being in the game in the last Ashes Test at the Oval, veered off course. Such sports documentaries can be made or broken by editing, and the fantastic editing team ensures that The Test is a good watch. It also has some neat quotes (Marnus Labuchange says, “Cricket is a game of small margins. You can feel like you’re on top and it can flip in a second”).

While Season 3 might not have the appeal of the first season of The Test, which focused on the image rebuilding exercise of the team after the ball-tampering scandal, it does have quite a few highs. One wishes that a video crew was sent to the Australian ODI World Cup campaign too, so that cricket fans got a peek into the journey of Pat Cummins’ winning team, which silenced Indian crowds in the final.

Nevertheless, this season of The Test makes for an engaging, thrilling watch, with a few lessons that could appeal to even non-cricket lovers.

The Test Season 3 is currently streaming on Prime Video

Watch | Nathan Lyon interview | On batting on one leg, ‘The Test’ and IPL 2024

Nathan Lyon hobbles and limps gingerly as he walks out to bat to a cheering audience at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Batting on one leg and visibly in discomfort due to a calf injury, Nathan would go on to add four off 13 excruciating balls in one of the most dramatic cricketing moments as part of the England-Australia clash for the Ashes 2023.

Nathan’s wife, Emma, did not want him to bat under such circumstances. Nor did his captain, Pat Cummins, or the team’s physio. Luckily, head coach Andrew McDonald wanted him to, and Nathan knew right away that he would find a way.

“A lot of people around the world go to work uncomfortable. I know the importance of 10 to 15 runs in an Ashes, and I wanted to contribute. When I had a calf injury, I felt like I had let down my teammates and I just wanted to make sure that I help them out by playing a role,” says Nathan, over a virtual conversation, about a vital moment that is also chronicled in the The Test Season 3, currently streaming on Prime Video.

The current season of The Testfollows the Australian men’s cricket team as they embark on a gruelling tour of England in 2023, where they faced India in the World Test Final and took on England in the Ashes. Apart from cricketing moments, The Test also gives a peek into locker-room talk and how players navigate the challenges of balancing sport at the highest level, and their family life. “There are superstars on the team, like Steve Smith and David Warner, but we’re all human, and we see that element coming out in The Test. It’s important for everyone to realise that we make mistakes but we also try our best to go out there and win some games.”

Such documentaries chronicle not just sporting moments, but also provide insights into sportspersons’ lives and how they deal with success and loss. Nathan agrees, “It’s massive, mate. I watch a lot of such stuff, like Quarterback, Full Swing and Tour de France: Unchained. My favourite is the Formula 1 documentary, Drive to Survive. There are great insights into the way individuals prepare for big moments, and that makes for some amazing viewing for fans.”

Spin is in

Growing up in Australia, known to produce fast-bowlers of pedigree such as Glenn Mcgrath, Brett Lee and Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon still wanted to get into spin, a skill that you would largely associate with the subcontinent. He idolised late Australian legendary spinner Shane Warne. “Well, my brother (Brendan Lyon) and I idolised Shane Warne. Seeing him win games for Australia was so special, and so, Brendan took up leg spin. I just wanted to be bigger and better than my brother.”

Today, Nathan, with over 500 wickets to his name, is considered Australia’s most successful offspinner and he loves it when the ball spins. “I’ve been watching the IPL a fair bit now, and if I’m being honest, I’d like to see the wickets to come back a little bit to see a fair contest between bat and ball. Spin is incredibly important in all formats of cricket. Whenever the ball spins, you get the maximum eyes on the television. When we tour India for Test cricket and the ball spins, I feel there are more people watching than anytime else. I absolutely love it when the ball spins and see some batsmen panic. Ravi Ash (Ravichandran Ashwin) has flown the flag for that one in the IPL now and hopefully, he will do a great job with that,” says Nathan, who is also keenly watching his skipper, Pat Cummins, captain Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins in ‘The Test’
| Photo Credit:
Prime Video

While he is not part of the IPL, Nathan swears by the five-day Test format, something that he describes as the ‘pinnacle of cricket.’ “For me, it is a place where you cannot hide. If you cannot play the short ball, you cannot hide. You have to ensure that your skillsets are good enough to compete against the best in the world. T-20 and one-day cricket are here, and Test cricket, well, is miles above.”

The Test: Season 3 is currently streaming on Prime Video