Really, the question should be ''what is the second best sport?'' as cricket is indisputably the best, no argument. Which other sport could come up with the notion of a ''timeless test''? The last one took place in South Africa in 1939, SA v England and failed to produce a winner when, after twelve days, the England team came up with the lame excuse that their wives were expecting them home, or somesuch, and jumped on a boat. It probably only failed to be targeted by a u-boat on the long journey back to Blighty because Neville Chamberlain was still giving Hitler the benefit of the doubt, and therefore war had not yet been declared. In all seriousness no other sport can compete with the marvellous literature of cricket (though others have superb examples, sometimes many) and cricket stats win hands down even if you ignore all the recent populist versions of the game.
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