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The Test - Season 2 (2023) Review

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video

The second season of "The Test" comes out almost three years after the first season debuted. This season has only four episodes compared to the eight in the first season. The season begins just before the 21-22 Ashes series when Tim Paine stepped down as Captain of Australia's Test team.


The first two episodes focus on the Ashes Series, Pat Cummins' captaincy (and Steve Smith's during the second test match). The third episode shifts focus to the Australian Cricket team returning to Pakistan for the first time in over two decades to play a three-test match series. The final episode is Australia's Tour of Sri Lanka (Only the Test Matches).


If I had to judge this installment, I would do it in 2 parts; the first two episodes had a slower tempo (maybe because it was one-sided) while the last two episodes were riveting. This series could have been better if it had two more episodes. The episodes covering the Ashes focussed more on the players than the game. The fourth test match (the only one that England managed to not lose) was pretty thrilling and could have been given a bit more focus. In the fifth test Match when England fought back in the third Innings and started pretty well in the fourth innings, only to lose the game in the end hardly got any time. 


The fourth episode covered the test series against Sri Lanka, during which the host nation went through Political Turmoil. In the second test match, it was satisfying to see stage a Sri Lanka comeback. The part that got left was the T20 and ODI series featuring the two teams. In the third T20I, Sri Lanka made a similar comeback when skipper Dasun Shanuka's Innings helped his team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. If I had to go on, I would have liked this installment to have featured the T20I World Cup in 2021, which Australia won.


I recommend this series to anyone who liked the first season (but one should view it with lowered expectations). If you were not a fan of the first season you should skip this one.

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