The beauty of a 2 test series

There are many joys that can be derived from this seemingly strange oddity in tour scheduling.

Firstly of course, the obvious. They are clearly better than  one test match. Or the one off test match as we like to call it.

And then think about this. Do you really have time to watch two former no1 test sides go at it for a whole 3 tests ? Just imagine it. Could you stand to see G.Smith running around the field for 15 days like some kind of lopsided hippo. Of course not. No. 2 games are plenty.

You might say to your self, but aren’t Australia in SA for more than a month, surely they can fit in 15 days of test cricket.

Don’t be silly, in this day and age of looking after their well being and keeping them fresh the 21 days of down time between all the games vs the 19 days of actual cricket they will be playing – including a horrendously long 4 day tour game – is clearly a necessity.

I generally work 20 days a month and get 8 days off. But cricketers are a more special, gentle sort. Plus it isn’t just a job remember, they are also on holiday. And no one likes to work in their downtime. At least not too hard anyway.

So the possibilities are endless.

Ryan Harris might actually last an “entire” series.

Ricky Ponting might seem less grumpy. Although that might be wishful thinking.

Hashim Amla will have more time to maintain his beard.

All incredibly exciting things to look forward to. It’s a shame we don’t play more of these.