The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team
The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team," also known as The Test", is a 2020 Australian English-language TV docu-series, produced for Amazon Prime Video. The docu-series was also co-produced by Cricket Australia. It was released on Amazon Prime on 12 March 2020 and consists of 8 episodes. The docu-series follows the Australia men's cricket team's path to redemption under the captaincy of Tim Paine with the joint effort under Justin Langer who was appointed as the head coach of the Australian cricket  team in 2018. It focuses on 18 months of the Australian team as it went through a rough phase and transition in the aftermath of the Australian ball-tampering scandal which emerged in March 2018. An edited, feature-length version of the series aired on the Seven Network on 4 October 2020. Storyline. Episode 1. This series is a behind-the-scenes glance which takes a look at the Australian men's team's fall from grace and being forced to retain its legacy, title and integrity. The series begins with the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal which rocked Australian  cricket, the subsequent press conferences, and the bans from play for Captain Steve Smith, deputy David Warner, and Australian opener Cameron Bancroft. Darren Lehmann resigned as head coach, while Tim Paine replaced Smith as the new captain of the national team. A few weeks later, former cricketer Justin Langer was announced by Cricket Australia as the new head coach. Despite the odds, the sequence of events ends up with the promise of a better future under the leadership of Paine and Langer who also introduced ethical code of conduct within the Australian setup and also introduced the method of shaking  hands before the commencement of a match. Episode 2-8. The series then shifts to an account of the next 18 months of the Australian Men's Cricket team from their sole perspective. It includes their first draws against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, India's first test series win during the Australian Summer as well as Australia's first wins against Sri Lanka, their time in India for ODI's and Twenty20 games, and the return of Smith and Warner to the team just before the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England. The last two episodes spotlights on  Australia's contribution during the 2019 Ashes series, which includes Steve Smith hit in the neck with a bouncer during the Second Test, Australia's near win in the Third Test without Smith, with the series finishing on Australia's retention of the Ashes urn by winning the Fourth Test.