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ICC to consider mandatory four-day Tests


Stan AF

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ICC to consider mandatory four-day Tests

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The move could shave off a significant amount of time from the 2023-2031 calendar Getty Images

Daniel Brettig 
Assistant editor,
ESPNcricinfo
 
 
 
Four-day Test matches could become mandatory as part of the World Test Championship from 2023, with the ICC's cricket committee likely to formally consider the change in 2020 amid widespread discussions among member boards about how to reduce numerous pressure points in the global cricket calendar for the future.
 
However, the world's cricketers stand as the most likely source of opposition to the change, with many viewing the step up from four-day first-class games to five-day Tests as a critical point of difference at the top end of the long-form game.
 
The ICC's increasing demand for event windows, the proliferation of domestic T20 leagues, the BCCI's demands for its own sizeable share of bilateral calendar space, and the costs of staging Test series are all factors contributing to the move, which would shave off a significant amount of time from the calendar for the 2023 to 2031 cycle.

 

ALSO READ: One day too many? Early finishes point to new possibilities for Test cricket

 

 

 

As an example, mandatory four-day Test matches rather than five-day matches during the current cycle from 2015 to 2023 would have freed up a total of 335 days of scheduled cricket over the period, a valuable amount of time that would also be enhanced by the ability to consistently schedule Test matches on a Thursday-to-Sunday basis, not dissimilar to the rhythm of golf tournaments on the world's major professional tours.

 

 

 

It would also allow for more Test series to played over three or five matches, affording host boards and broadcasters a greater share of the higher revenue-raising early days of a Test without having to budget for a fifth day. Australia's recent history against India has seen Test series played over four matches for a total of 20 scheduled days - the same number that would be scheduled for a five-match series of four-day Tests.

 

 

 

Matches played over four days would likely see the increase of the minimum overs in a day from 90 to 98, meaning that over four days only 58 scheduled overs would be lost. There has been an increasing proliferation in the number of Test matches finishing inside four days - more than 60% of matches played since the start of 2018 have ended in four days or fewer.

 

"If we have a clear picture of how it all works in an improved and well-structured schedule, then it would be something that could be taken to the players for their consideration" Tony Irish

 

"It is something that we have got to seriously consider," Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts told SEN Radio this week. "It is something that can't be driven by emotion, but it needs to be driven by fact. We need to look at what's the average length of Test matches over the past five-ten years in terms of time and overs.

 

 

 

"We need to look at it very carefully and perhaps it is more likely than not in the mid-term future. What we absolutely will do is that over the next 12 to 18 months, is make sure the cricket calendar is nailed down for the years 2023 to 2031. What we are committed to doing is working with all the ICC members - nobody is saying it is easy but what we are doing is looking at it holistically and we are committed to doing that."

 

 

 

The contrasting view, shared among many players, was provided by Australia captain Tim Paine at the conclusion of Australia's 247-run victory over New Zealand in Melbourne. "We might not have got a result if we'd done that in the Ashes, I think every game went to a fifth day," he said. "That's the point of difference with Test cricket, it is five days, it's harder mentally, it's harder physically, and it tests players more than the four-day first-class fixtures do. I think that's what it's designed to do, so I hope it stays that way."

 

Members of the ICC Cricket Committee at the two-day meeting in Mumbai International Cricket Council

A shift to four-day Tests would place an even greater premium on the quality of pitches around the world, with curators being required to provide a surface that aids pace bowlers, batsmen and spin bowlers over their course, without the chance of an extra day for the pitch to deteriorate over. It would likely also force captains to think more in terms of scoring rates and declarations to create enough time to bowl opposition teams put in the reduced time available.

 

 

 

Tony Irish, the head of the international players' body FICA, said that while four-day Tests would provide a solution to many of the game's growing problems around squeezing cricket's three formats into the global calendar, such a move could not be made without an integrated approach to scheduling and a far more "coherent" structure for the international game.

 

"There are two aspects to four-day Tests, the cricket aspect and the scheduling aspect," Irish told ESPNcricinfo. "It would take pressure off the schedule but our concern would be that the ad hoc way the schedule currently works they would simply plug in more cricket into the gaps. If introduced it therefore has to be part of a more coherent structure.

 

 

 

"We would need to understand exactly how the cricket aspects are intended to work and we would need to take that to the players. In the past, many players have been against a change to four days. However, if we have a clear picture of how it all works in an improved and well-structured schedule, then it would be something that could be taken to the players for their consideration.

 

"Unfortunately with the ICC there is a history of introducing these types of changes in an unstructured way and that would need to change. We reckon they need to do a lot of work on how the schedule will look and not just present it as a concept."

 

 

 

Four-day Tests have already been added to the calendar in a limited form, for matches such as a Test between South Africa and Zimbabwe, and then England hosting Ireland earlier this year. Australia will likely play its first four-day Test against Afghanistan at home next summer.

 

 

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28394321/icc-consider-mandatory-four-day-tests

 

Edited by Stan AF
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1 hour ago, Zero_Unit said:

I would prefer that more. I will say it over and over again, people has less time these days. Ain't no one got 40h a week to watch a match. ICC needs to kill off this format. I recon time for test is almost up. Like they say, No money, no honey. 

 

If any of your family member got old and can't work anymore would you take care of them or kill/discard them?

 

No body asks you to follow 40h a week. Even 2-3 hours is good enough. Those who want to watch will watch. Those who can't , won't. As simple as that.

And so what if it is dying? Test is a heritage format. Players are happy to play it and many fans are happy to watch it. The other formats have to sustain this format as long as they can while a few changes can be made (like D/N) to minimise the losses. 

People are already jaded of too many LOI tamasha cricket sometimes and having more of those in place of Tests will slowly kill cricket itself.

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I don't quite understand the logic behind 4 day Tests. Do the bofos at the ICC want more drawn games ? :hmmmm2:

 

I mean what's the problem in having the extra 5th day ? It would rather make it interesting by enabling the result. Or is there something about ticket sales for non-playing days ? 

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9 hours ago, R!TTER said:

It's ICC's fault, for all the sh!t that BCCI gets ICC+ECB+CA are 10x riding on our coat tails & blaming all the evils of cricketing world on us!

They are making India the scapegoat for all the evil in the world. Our neighbors are not helping any. Australia and England playing Ashes can be sustained economically but it is a lose lose situation for other countries. Sports like anything else has to evolve to stay meaningful.

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7 hours ago, sourab10forever said:

 

If any of your family member got old and can't work anymore would you take care of them or kill/discard them?

 

No body asks you to follow 40h a week. Even 2-3 hours is good enough. Those who want to watch will watch. Those who can't , won't. As simple as that.

And so what if it is dying? Test is a heritage format. Players are happy to play it and many fans are happy to watch it. The other formats have to sustain this format as long as they can while a few changes can be made (like D/N) to minimise the losses. 

People are already jaded of too many LOI tamasha cricket sometimes and having more of those in place of Tests will slowly kill cricket itself.

Not taking a personal jab at you but did you just compare a HUMAN life to a sport format dying? I have seen lots of stupid comparison here, heck I am guilty of that as well, but this one by far is the worst comparison of 2019 that I have read in any forum LMAO. :p:

 

To get back to the subject, it doesn't matter what I think or what you think or what the players thinks. Money speaks a different language. Like I stated previously, if there is not enough money being generated for a test match, it will die off within our lifetime. This is simple business/economy. After all, professional sport is business at the end of the day. They too need to be maximize their profit, not minimize.

ICC put a temporary lifeline on a dying format by introducing test championship. Most players these days are more concerned about which T20 league they can play in for that quick buck. More and more players are retiring from test very early compared to previously. That itself speaks volume.

 

Instead of concentrating on this crappy format, ICC (and BCCI) needs to concentrate more on injecting cricket into Olympics and getting other nations to play cricket (start with T20 - or even come up with T10). That is the only way of survival in the future, not this p*nani format. The only reason cricket is the 2nd most followed sport is because india/Pakistan/Bangladesh treats cricket exactly as  how USA treats basketball/football. Or else, cricket would have been unknown to the rest of the world.

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11 hours ago, sourab10forever said:

 

If any of your family member got old and can't work anymore would you take care of them or kill/discard them?

 

No body asks you to follow 40h a week. Even 2-3 hours is good enough. Those who want to watch will watch. Those who can't , won't. As simple as that.

And so what if it is dying? Test is a heritage format. Players are happy to play it and many fans are happy to watch it. The other formats have to sustain this format as long as they can while a few changes can be made (like D/N) to minimise the losses. 

People are already jaded of too many LOI tamasha cricket sometimes and having more of those in place of Tests will slowly kill cricket itself.

Sports is entertainment, family is family. Very poor example.

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  • 4 day 
  • number on shirt
  • day night 

all this is not long term solution

 

Simple -ppl dont have time these days but if the contest is good ppl will make time for it. Sports is all about contest and a good contest is what will catch public attention. The whole world watched ashes this time , even Wc in later stage when games went very tight . More efforts needs to be made to bring SL,WI, Pak, SA back up to the level . Everyones like a good contest ....with all the hype of pink ball test at the end it was a no contest. 

We need ideas like -

  • Scrap toss and may be let visiting team choose or atleast in 1st test of half of the series 
  • Avoid extreme surfaces like green mamba, dead flat wkts, rank turners 

 

Also time to digest n accept ppl have no time these days so the craze wont be same . Test Cricket ran also in those days when money wasnt as big as now. So ideas that bring teams close is needed then gimmicks 

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If there are so many recommendations and suggestions to make it better, maybe it is a faulty product. 

 

Test cricket is a product of yester years when a boat from England would come to India in a month or so. Now it takes 7 hrs. 

 

Test Cricket . RIP. 

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On 12/30/2019 at 11:01 AM, Khota said:

Format is dead. It is being artifically kept alive.

Although test cricket is something I cherish and growing up that is the only major form of cricket I knew, I think this format is not suitable for today's short attention fast paced life. :sad_smile: It is just being kept alive by players and the boards. It will soon be on life support, if not already, as evidenced by the empty stadiums. There was a time I remember going to Eden Gardens test matches and it would be completely full with 100,000 people.

Edited by Audiophile
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