Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days. It is generally considered the ultimate test of playing ability and endurance in the sport. The origin of the name test stems from the fact that the long, grueling match is a "test" of the relative strength of the two sides.

The first officially recognised Test match commenced on 15 March 1877, contested by England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where Australia won by 45 runs. England won the second match (also at the MCG) by four wickets, thus drawing the series 1–1. This was not the first international cricket match, however. That was played between Canada and the United States, on 24 and 25 September 1844.

A Test match to celebrate 100 years of Test cricket was held in Melbourne from 12 to 17 March 1977. In this match, Australia beat England by 45 runs, the same margin as the first Test match in 1877, which the 1977 match was commemorating.

Shane Keith Warne (born 13 September 1969) is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet and the only one still playing at the time. He is also a cricket commentator and a professional poker player.

Warne played his first Test match in 1992, and his 708 wickets was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, until it was broken by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan on 3 December 2007. He took over 1000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals)—he was the second bowler to reach this milestone after Muttiah Muralitharan. A useful lower-order batsman, Warne also scored over 3000 Test runs, and he holds the record for most Test runs without a century. His career was plagued by scandals off the field; these included a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, charges of bringing the game into disrepute by accepting money from bookmakers, and sexual indiscretions.

Usman Khawaja (Urdu: عثمان خواجہ; born 18 December 1986) is a Pakistani-born Australian cricketer. He was awarded player of the Australian Under 19 Championship in 2005 and also played for Australia in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka as an opening batsman. His club side is Randwick-Petersham.

A left-hand top order batsman, Khawaja made his first class debut for the New South Wales Blues in 2008. In the same year, he hit consecutive double centuries for the NSW Second XI—a feat never before achieved by a NSW player. On 22 June 2010 it was announced by Cricket Australia that Usman Khawaja would be a part of the Australian touring squad to play Pakistan in a two Test series in England.

Khawaja was selected as part of the 17-man Australian squad for the 2010–11 Ashes series. During the third test, Ricky Ponting fractured his finger and Khawaja was named as a stand-by if Ponting couldn't recover in time. He was subsequently selected in the Australian cricket team to play England in the fifth Test against England in Sydney on 3 January 2011. On 3 January 2011, Khawaja became the 419th Australian to be presented with an Australian Cricket Test baggy green cap. Khawaja became the first Muslim and first Pakistani-born Australian player to play test cricket for Australia, and only the seventh foreign-born cricketer to do so in the last 80 years.

Wasim Akram (Punjabi: وسیم اکرم; born 3 June 1966) is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is a left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International (ODI) matches.

Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in the history of cricket. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling.

He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002 Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glen McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim has taken 23 4-wicket hauls in ODI in 356 matches he played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He is the current bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders.

Glenn Donald McGrath AM (pronounced /məˈɡrɑː/; born 9 February 1970 in Dubbo, New South Wales), nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century.

Known throughout his career for maintaining a remarkably accurate line and length, McGrath's consistency enabled him to be one of the most economical and dangerous fast bowlers of his time. McGrath holds the world record for the highest number of Test wickets by a fast bowler and is fourth on the all-time list, with the top three wicket takers Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, and Anil Kumble all being spin bowlers. He has also taken the sixth highest number of One Day International wickets, and holds the record for the most wickets in the Cricket World Cup. McGrath announced his retirement from Test cricket on 23 December 2006, with his Test career coming to an end after the fifth Ashes test in Sydney in January 2007, whilst the 2007 World Cup marked the end of his one-day career. McGrath later played for the Indian Premier League team of the Delhi DareDevils, and was one of the tournaments' most economical bowlers during its first season, however he saw no action in the second season, ultimately having his contract bought out.