The Final Test

Martin Chandler | 8:53am BST 26 July 2026

Published: 2025
Pages: 222
Author: Turbervill, Huw
Rating: 4 stars

It has taken me a while to get round to reading this one, but having finally plucked it from the pending pile in order to provide some holiday reading it has proved to be a rewarding read.

I should perhaps stress the reason for my initial reluctance. I rate Huw Turbervill as a writer, and he does a fine job as editor of The Cricketer, and it is that familiarity with his work and views that held me back. No one needs to tell me that he is, first and foremost, a lover of red ball cricket, something which we certainly have in common. My fear was that, as a man in the thick of things as far as cricket is concerned and given the use of the word final in the title, and the appearance of the words uncertain future in the sub-title, that his conclusion would be something I would find unpalatable.

So it took me a year to decide that however depressing I found the prospect of the book that I should face the task of taking on board the views of someone who, unlike myself and most of the other people I discuss this subject with, undoubtedly knows what he is talking about.

And I have to say the book is not as depressing as I feared it might be, even if the future does remain uncertain and there are plenty of illuminating digressions along the way.

The format of the book is certainly well thought out. It basically consists of two strands. First of all Turbervill takes his reader through Test cricket’s journey since he first witnessed it in the 1980s. It isn’t all about England as, for the subject in hand it could not possibly be. But having seen primarily English Test matches that thread understandably dominates the narrative.

Also enjoyable are the autobiographical elements of The Final Test. Turbervill doesn’t overdo that aspect of the story but it is certainly interesting to learn how he got where he is today, and no he is not, for those who recall the magnificent Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, remotely like CJ of Sunshine Desserts!

Interspersed between those chapters are the beating heart of the book. Turbervill canvasses the opinions of a vast number of the great and the good of the game. And this part is most certainly not just about the English. Graham Gooch and Jack Russell are two of the major names but from elsewhere Viv Richards, Richard Hadllee, Mudassar Nazar and Merv Hughes are all interviewed. All are passionate in their championing of the red ball game, as is India’s Farokh Engineer although it brought a smile to my face to note that Turbervill did make the mistake of taking everything Engineer says at face value – he will not, I am sure, be the last to do so*.

All of these great cricketers say much the same thing, albeit in different ways. They all want the game I love to survive, and although their views on the likelihood of that happening differ considerably I would have to say that by the time I finished the book I felt considerably more upbeat about the future of Test cricket than I had thought I would.

It is much to Huw Turbervill’s credit that he has managed to resolve in exemplary fashion the obvious tension between wearing his heart on his sleeve about his own views and remaining objective in his thinking and The Final Test is well worth investing in and, I understand, is about to appear in paperback – I wonder if when it does it might have an additional chapter looking at events in Australia last winter?

 

*As a Lancastrian of a certain age nobody could be a greater fan of ‘Our Rookie’ than I am, but he has a notoriously unreliable memory, and it was as faulty as ever when it came to the details he gave in his interview with Turbervill. That said there can be no doubt that the sentiments he expressed on the subject of Test cricket were genuine.