Andrew McKinlay is a member of the National Nine News sports team known for his expertise in cricket and rugby.

  Have your say on the future of Test cricket.

It's long been a cliche, but draws in cricket are a bit like kissing your mother-in-law. You're doing the right thing, but you're not going to get much out of it.

The players got something out of it, and pedantic officials had their moment of glory. But billions of fans - and more importantly the game itself - got nothing out of this farcical finish in Bangalore.

With the match in the balance, a crucial hour of play on the final day was lost, with not one, but two stoppages for bad light - when at times the sun was shining!

Umpires strutted about like Emperor Penguins, holding out their light metres, a device that - like performance enhancing drugs - should be banned.

Serial offender Sourav Ganguly firstly persuaded the umpires to go off. Then when play resumed, Ganguly made Australia's fielders and partner VVS Laxman wait an eternity because he'd apparently 'forgotten to put his thigh pad on'. Please! Can't you be timed out in this game?

One not-so-crowded hour robbed the tourists of any chance at victory, and denied the hosts respect for gallantly saving the game.

The poor fans among the crowd paid 150 rupees ($5AU). For many, a full day's wage. They could've witnessed a thrilling victory like Australia's last summer in Sydney or India's in Perth. Instead this match was ruined. Death in the afternoon: a great game killed off by three (two light stoppages then stumps) farcical finishes.

Baseball - like cricket - still maintains many of its traditions. The Major Leagues still use wooden bats; players still wear pin-striped uniforms; a brick wall covered in ivy still stands behind home plate at Chicago's Wrigley Field. But when the skies get dull over Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium, they just turn the bloody lights on!

Here in India during this Test, national newspapers ran front and back page wrap-arounds promoting the Twenty20 Indian Cricket League. The rival competition to the Indian Premier League.

Match reports on the First Test were buried deep behind the back pages. Test cricket on the sub-continent runs a poor third to Twenty20 and One-day Internationals. The ending to this Test yet again proves why.

Ricky Ponting's mother was a keen player of the little-known game of Vigoro. A quaint sport played with a paddle-like, banjo-shaped bat. There's two teams of twelve players and whoever scores the most runs wins ... sound familiar?

With all due respect to those who still play the game, Vigoro's 'Bradmans' and 'Gavaskars' have been forgotten. Consigned to history.

If Test cricket continues to produce farcical finishes like this one in Bangalore, this great game's Bradmans, Gavaskars, Tendulkars and Pontings will also be soon forgotten ... even by their mothers-in-law!

Does Test cricket have a future?
Should poor light ever be allowed to influence a game?
Did India play in the spirit of the game?