1-0 England. Also, BOOM BOOM IS BACK!!!

England 215 & 375 beat Australia 280 & 296 by 14 runs

Scorecard

My fellow blogger Matt Becker over at Limited Overs said it was the best Test he ever witnessed. I would have to say that this one runs Galle 2008, the second Test I ever watched, pretty close. That Test in Galle was the second Test of the series between Sri Lanka and India, and it had everything. Virender Sehwag's best innings (better than both his 300s), a 201 where he carried his bat on a pitch that was doing everything. The vaunted Indian middle order of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, and Laxman against Murali and Mendis. And finally, a delicately poised match going into the final day which India wrested away from the Sri Lankans to even the series. Sehwag's batting in that Test made me wonder "why doesn't everyone just bat like that?' It took me all the way up until Sehwag's recent drop in form to truly realize why.

This Test, too, had everything. A shock debut, two great bowling attacks, a man under pressure making a vital, match-winning century, and a finely poised match going into the final day. Except this match remained finely poised until the very last delivery of the match. And it was only fitting that it should go down to the last delivery being decided on DRS (cricket's version of instant replay, for the neophytes) and England winning because they rightly called for the review.

A commenter in Matt's article on the fifth day's play commented on how he can recall specific Tests from memory that he watched live. I think I'll start that list too.

Galle 2008, Trent Bridge 2013.

Hopefully I can add to this list in the years to come.

Pakistan 224/9 beat West Indies 98 by 126 runs

Scorecard

Now transferring from the long-lasting traditions of Test cricket to the not so long-lasting innings of Shahid Afridi. Except, that is, on days like yesterday, when he makes watching cricket so much more fun. 76 off 55 and 7/12. Next thing you know, he'll be dropped for something or other and announce his retirement... before coming back again.

Anyways, Boom Boom is back and the cricket world is better off for it.

See you tomorrow for the 2nd ODI between West Indies and Pakistan (it's on ESPN3, hooray!) and on Thursday for the 2nd Test between England and Australia at Lord's. If you haven't seen Lord's before, find a stream between the hours of 5 am and noon, because it really is breathtaking.