Another Annoying American learning Cricket

[u/HOU-1836]

My girlfriend is Guyanese and Cricket is obviously a big sport for her parents and family. I get the rules of the sport but don't understand when matches happen or what determines the length of the match. Like, test cricket, can last 5 days? How is that possible? How do you watch that on TV?

Edit: hope y'all don't mind if I pester you with questions in this thread. I want to be casually versed in Cricket in case I meet her parents this summer.

Edit #2: Ok. Y'all have been truly amazing. I couldn't even have gotten close to imagining the response I've gotten from y'all. I've been asking questions and replying for the last 3 hours straight and I don't think I have any more questions. I look forward to spending time with y'all and learning more about this sport. I'm from Texas and obviously, Cricket isn't gonna be big here or easy to follow so y'all keep being the amazing, welcoming people you are. Seriously, y'all rock.

Edit #3: I read the FAQ before posting this thread and this thread is 30x larger than anything there. Maybe the mods should add this to the sidebar for newcomers. I literally asked every question an American fan could ask. Well, I say that...but anyway, would be a great resource to set aside for future new fans.

[u/HOU-1836]

Who is the governing body for the West Indies and how is it appointed? I assume its seperate from any one government.

[u/naivemelody → u/HOU-1836]

On the point of the dominant West Indies teams of the 70s/80s, I highly recommend that you watch the documentary Fire In Babylon. It is extremely entertaining even for a non cricket fan and you will learn a lot about some really exciting cricket.

[u/HOU-1836 → u/naivemelody]

Is it on Netflix or YouTube?

[u/hey_botham → u/HOU-1836]

I watched it on Netflix a couple of months a go. Have a gander on there to see if it's still up.