Why would a sport last 5 days?

[MechEng]

Last night I was discussing sports with my Jamaican roommate and in the process I talked to him about test cricket. Surprisingly he did not know who Michael Holding was, his eyes grew wide when I told him that a game of cricket could last 5 days and it grew even wider when I told him about draws in a test match.

 

When discussing cricket with people who have no knowledge about the sport, the common question I'm asked is how could I tolerate watching such a sport? And it's not a bad question, if India were not a British colony I would have never fallen in love with 5 day tests. Which makes me think as to how did the inventors of cricket came up with the idea that the game must last 5 days? Why would the inventors of the game be so masochistic? Why isn't there a test football where the players have to play 90 minutes everyday for 5 days?