A Draw Today, A Win For Test Cricket

The opening clash of the 2010-11 Ashes Series has ended in an unexpected draw, one must say. After a glorious 195 runs for Michael Hussey and 136 for Brad Haddin, Australia posted what looked to be an unbeatable 481 first innings total.
But a first-time double century from Englishman Alastair Cook, and centuries from both captain Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott, swung the match back into England's favour.
Such was the might of the England second innings, that Strauss declared with a 296 run lead - what would've been an unimaginable total just 2 days earlier.
It was the first time any side in history had made it to 500 against Australia for the loss of only a sole wicket, and England thoroughly deserved to do so with the batting class they put on today.
When Strauss moved to 100, that's when I began to question whether the bowlers were up to the task. In the end, it took a part-time bowler in Marcus North to break the partnership. And it was mostly because of fault on the batsman's part.
Sure, I was happy about it, but the bowlers didn't make good use of the wear and long cracks in the GABBA pitch. When they did, the batsmen already had their eye in well enough to deal with the deviations.
Huge changes in a match situation like this still tell me the one thing I've always known - that Test cricket is forever the greatest form of the sport.
The four innings, instead of the two in shortened forms, means that no result is ever certain until both teams have had that second dig. A team's performance is usually not measured by the ability of a couple of people pulling their weight (like in T20), but a consistent effort across all five days.
This test match is the perfect example, especially in a world that is losing touch with the classic format.
Hussey and Haddin created a good platform for Australia to work on, but the bowlers could not give adequate support, and the platform quickly dissolved.
It doesn't mean that both the Australian centuries and the Peter Siddle birthday-hatrick were for nothing, it just means that they don't get the finish they probably deserved.
A draw today isn't the result Australian's wanted. But it reminds us of the beauty and challenge of test cricket. Anyone who believes a shorter variant is the most demanding or greatest is just kidding themselves.