The sun is beating down, hardly any cloud or breeze, you come in first change, you run and bowl, hoping for the elusive swing or any help off the surface, there isn't any, the ball is too new and the pitch is rock solid. Ball after ball, you bowl a tight line and length, the batsman gets behind it and shows the full face as he defends it to short point...
You return to 2nd slip as the guy at the other end tries his heart out...
You are again standing at the end of your run up, look up, the sweat drips off your forehead, you run in, bowl the line and length, you keep hoping and hoping for that little help off the surface, or that tiniest of mistakes from the batsman, there isn't any, its only the first session of Day 1, pitch is a belter and the batsmen aren't novices...
Ball after ball, over after over, you run in and bowl, you run in and bowl with a big heart. This is not going to be over in the blink of an eye, this is the Test and it will test you, it will test your heart... and it will keep testing you every breath you take and every ball you bowl over the next five days...
This is Test Cricket and there is no test finer than this...
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