I first asked the question on Stack Overflow with the assumption that I was doing something wrong:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4762945/how-can-i-tell-gradle-to-use-my-testng-xml-file-for-test-classes-and-ordering

IMHO, when a suite.xml file is specified, Gradle should use it for execution. I'm guessing it doesn't in order to hook into the processing and tell when a failure has occured.

test {
useTestNG()
options.suites("src/test/resources/crazyTestNG.xml")

1. Adding
2. scanForTestClasses = false
3. causes zero tests to be executed, since the class names don't end in Test
   }

My suite.xml file specified the exact sequence of each test class to run. Each test class contains an annotation on each method to specify the order in which the tests will be run. When I place specific logging in IMethodListener, it is evident that it does not execute.

In addition, my other Listener is also getting clobbered. It produces specific logging to the screen and specifically the onStart() method is being ignored.

FWIW, Maven executes the use case properly without concern. Gradle is a better fit for this project due to the wrapper's ability to provide a user with a no effort configuration.