Test Match Snapbox

Backyard cricket, minus the neighbour's window.

Test Match has been on Australian floors since the 1960s, and the snapbox is the small-format version of it: a compact set you can put on a table rather than a set that colonises the lounge room for a fortnight. Spring-loaded batsman, a bowler, and a field to be placed — the physical satisfaction of actually timing a shot is the entire appeal, and no amount of dice rolling reproduces it.

It plays as cricket does. One bats, one bowls and sets a field, and the whole thing lives or dies on whether you can middle it. There is no hidden depth here and it is not pretending to have any — it is a dexterity game about hitting a small ball with a small bat, which children beat adults at with dispiriting regularity.

Please note: This is currently the only edition of Test Match available.

Perfect for: Anyone whose summer has a radio on in the background from Boxing Day onwards.

2 players | 30 minutes | Age 6+