test match
- noun
- UK
- Many teams have already played warm-up test matches and have begun running out their newest winter signings.
- cricket test match
- play test matches
- five-day test match
Examples
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During the test match, players often have to endure difficult weather conditions for five consecutive days.
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The series of test matches between India and Australia showcased some of the best cricket talent in the world.
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All I will say is that whenever you play a test match, you can never gain or lose more than three ranking points.
Blog text (21) -
- Test match.
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The national cricket teams for Sri Lanka and Oz were having a test match, and he talked me into going.
Academic text (2007) -
In 2008-2011, the All Blacks would fixture 56 Test matches.
Blog text (10) -
Kaino would make his Test debut in 2006, versus Ireland, playing two of the early Test matches when the selectors believed he had worked it out.
Blog text (10) -
Neighbors are scarce, and if you don't get on with one, you can add another ten kilometers at least for a friendly beer over the telly during a Test Match.
Fiction book (2002) -
And so, with this backyard test match now imminent, we leave these two diversely opposed captains to ponder over what the Ashes really mean.
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Many fans believe that the atmosphere in a test match is much more intense than in limited-overs games.
How Important
- UK
- UK
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'test' and 'match' suggest a contest that tests ability, so a learner could infer a general sense of a challenging or evaluative contest. However, the conventional meaning refers specifically to the long-format international cricket game (a particular standard/format), which is not directly derivable from the constituents without knowledge of cricket, so it is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Test match comes from the idea of a test and the word match for a game. One popular story says these games were meant to 'test' national teams against each other, so the name stuck and today it means a long, serious international cricket game.