Ashes series proves Test cricket is alive

If Test cricket is dead - and its demise has been widely reported around the world in the past year or two - perhaps we should tell the Poms and in fact, the Aussies and the Indians and Sri Lankans.

Watching the final day of the third Test in the current Ashes series at Edgbaston on Monday emphasised yet again how much attraction, fascination and pure entertainment the five-day game can provide in a world which demands instant entertainment and gratification. In other words, Twenty20 cricket.

As this column, and many others has concluded, of course there is a huge opportunity for Twenty20 and there is no doubt the IPL, plus the other competitions will continue to flourish and provide much thrills and of course, bagloads of money for the players and organisers.

Not to mention the CSA. But perhaps we should not go there!

Back to Edgbaston where the only question on Monday was whether England could bowl out Australia, a strong possibility at the start of play, and thereby go two up in the Ashes, with two to play.

I settled down on my sofa to watch England wrap it up and after they had grabbed two wickets in the morning session I was convinced it was going to be the the home side's day.

I think the crowd thought so as well because in they streamed.

All tickets were sold out before start of play and this was a Monday morning. The same pattern emerged at Cardiff and Lord's and I am sure the next two Tests at Headlingley tomorrow and then The Oval in London will also draw full houses.

But the Edgbaston fans had to sit in silence as Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke and Marcus North, who made his name here in South Africa in the summer along with players like Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle, put on a magnificent fifth-wicket partnership.

Watching Clarke playing the crafty spinner Graeme Swann and then contending with the pace barrage of Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions, was Test cricket at its best.

Superb concentration on every ball, a resolute defence allied with some marvellous attacking shots, punctuated the afternoon as slowly, England lost their grip with Australia eventually coming through to force a draw and make certain they can still take the Ashes.

And as much as you had to admire Clarke, you had to watch in awe as Flintoff, playing in his last Test series, put his body into every delivery despite having knee problems.

At the end of the day I felt almost as exhausted as the players, having being gripped by the rear-guard action of the Aussies, the exact opposite to the first Test in Cardiff where they should have won, only for a No 11 batsmen like Monty Panesar to deny them victory.

That is the beauty of Test cricket.

You can draw a match after five days (even though Test was reduced because of bad weather) and still be gripped by its nuances, changes of mood and pace, captain's declarations and the mind games that go with every over.

Twenty20 may be fun but it lacks soul and depth.

Give me Test cricket any day.