'The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team' Review: A front seat view of the side's journey from despair to victory
The Australian dressing room wasn't the place to be during their 2018 tour of South Africa. While Amazon had this idea of 'The Test' well before the infamous chain of events, not many, including the streaming giant foresaw the catastrophe that was about to hit team Australia.
No doubt this incident was all the more a reason for the story to be told. Australia's troubles were far from over even after Justin Langer, a decorated, tough, no-nonsense former cricketer took over from Darren Lehmann. And his first assignment wasn't a memorable one after the team was handed a 5-0 drubbing by England. Following this is their loss to India at home in the 2018-19 Test series. The docu-series captures the highs and lows of the team and their resounding Ashes victory in 2019.
Over the years, streaming platforms have managed to capture some brilliant off-the-field moments on camera. Be it the explosive 'Formula 1: Drive to Survive' by Netflix or the scintillating and compelling 'All or Nothing' series by Amazon, there are moments of joy, heartbreak, pride, success and the euphoria that's recorded and put out for the world to see.
'The Test' is all about Australia's revitalization and resurrection. The documentary captures the two sides of Langer— a passionate man who wears his heart on his sleeve and a man who's pretty fun to be with. The best example of his fierce anger is when he slams the team after their 5-0 loss to England. "Don't think it's okay to lose five-nil to England because the truth is it's not."
Langer's approach is a major highlight as the docuseries establishes he is one of the key personas in the documentary. He can be heard saying: "What I want you to keep thinking about, not just as you play this match but every time you represent Australia, you're not just representing us, you're representing the whole country." It proves to be a phrase he uses time and again during the highly tensed Ashes series in 2019.
The opening episode sets the tone as it shows a distraught squad. A squad that has lost and are on the brink of losing their minds. A vivid image is of Shaun Marsh throwing off his gloves in a fit of anger, he tosses his bat and in what is probably the final straw and may have the likes of Ponting and Gilchrist flinching, he hurls the helmet on the floor with an expletive accompanying it.
Players like Aaron Finch, Tim Paine, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith and David Warner get their time on-screen as well. The Khawaja-Langer dispute gets some coverage as does an episode that glimpses the pressure that Finch has to deliver as a captain despite going through a torrid form slump.
At the end of the day, 'The Test' is an incredible feat by Amazon. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it's compared to 'Drive to Survive' as they managed to get the cameras all the time while the events unfolded. The final result is a front seat view of Cricket Australia's journey from the depths of failure to their meteoric rise.
Compelling, heartbreaking, heartwarming and riveting, 'The Test' is a binge-worthy watch.
'The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team' is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.