A couple of things...
The SQL statement you would use is:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM test
However, when using the MySQL Connector/Net to connect to MySQL through C# there is some care to be given when handling query results.
For example, as cited in this question and on Microsoft Connect int.Parse("0") equivalently known as Int32.Parse("0") can throw a FormatException on some machines.
I have found that Convert.ToInt32 handles this case nicely.
So your code will be something like this:
using (var conn = new MySqlConnection(cs))
{
conn.Open();
using (var cmd = new MySqlCommand("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM test", conn))
{
int count = Convert.ToInt32(cmd.ExecuteScalar());
return count;
}
}
Remember to make use of using statements in order to ensure that the MySQL objects get disposed of properly.