Four-day test cricket

[SeamUp]

The traditions of our game don't seem too important now with all this T20s. I also wonder if international cricket will become like international football in time.

The ICC look likely to allow the SA vs ZIM & now this report :

Exclusive: Test matches in England could be cut from five to four days under ECB plans

Just feel wear and tare into a 5th day is one of the great challenges in test cricket eventhough so many aren't lasting. The one's that do.

 

[fredfertang]

Shai Hope will be one who will disagree, and I'm another

 

[jimmy101]

I really hope the ICC has more sense than to actually go through with this. They actually realised way back in 1949 that four day Tests don't work.

 

[Bijed]

Argh, no! Really hope this doesn't go ahead.

I mean, as often as anything, I see a County Championship match that was a draw after four days and think "that actually could have been quite interesting if it had a fifth day".

Anyway, I don't know about you, but I always get the impression from the way some people from the ECB oo whatever go on about it that barely any tests go to the 5th day. But actually:



So, yeah, I'm not denying that it's a fair bit lower than a couple of decades ago, but 58.3% is still the majority of test matches.

 

[Spikey]

I think it's a decent idea but I also think England is basically the one market I wouldn't do it in

I'd also support cutting lunch to like 20 minutes

 

[jimmy101]

Having a match drawn after four days is just as disappointing as a two Test series drawn, 1-1.

All this will do is neuter the development of Test cricket outside of the top 6.

 

[S.Kennedy]

I have been convinced for a long while now that the ECB wishes to destroy first-class cricket so this is no surprise. Probably similar among the ICC hierarchy considering they are some of the same personnel (Giles Clarke) and all pee in the same pot.

 

[Starfighter]

I think t's a terrible idea. Imagine the effect of rainy day, it would almost certainly lead to a draw. There's a reason why matches under five days were abandoned. Also unless there is a dramatic overhaul in pitch preparation you can say goodbye to significant changes in the pitch during a match, although that never happens in Australia these days anyway.

An extra half hour is nowhere near enough, you'd get maybe an extra six or so overs in at the end of the day. At least 105 overs a day would be preferable. There's also a need for much stronger penalties for time wasting. This includes batsmen - you shouldn't need five minutes to mark your crease.

Even in recent matches there have been some great last days - du Plessis' 110* being a great case in point, and the last day in Cape Town in the return series as well.

If this is what it takes to keep test matches going, then so be it, but it'll probably suck regardless.

 

[vcs]

I don't know, I'll reserve my opinions till I see it happen.

Instinctively, as cricket fans, we are inclined to be conservative about such major changes, but with the higher average RRs, if pitches are prepared to last 4 days instead of 5, who knows, it might work. It shouldn't take away the "essence" of Test cricket, which is patience, and an even contest between bat and ball.

Pitch preparation is not an exact science, sometimes we see pitches that look great for batting upto the end of day 5, and sometimes it becomes a struggle by day 2.

 

[TheJediBrah]

If they did this, you just know what everyone will say when a draw inevitably happens . . . "Why the **** can't we have a 5th day"

 

[Spikey]

I think t's a terrible idea. Imagine the effect of rainy day, it would almost certainly lead to a draw. There's a reason why matches under five days were abandoned. Also unless there is a dramatic overhaul in pitch preparation you can say goodbye to significant changes in the pitch during a match, although that never happens in Australia these days anyway.

An extra half hour is nowhere near enough, you'd get maybe an extra six or so overs in at the end of the day. At least 105 overs a day would be preferable. There's also a need for much stronger penalties for time wasting. This includes batsmen - you shouldn't need five minutes to mark your crease.

Even in recent matches there have been some great last days - du Plessis' 110* being a great case in point, and the last day in Cape Town in the return series as well.

If this is what it takes to keep test matches going, then so be it, but it'll probably suck regardless.

It doesn't really happen anywhere.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I just don't get the point. How is 4 day test cricket going to produce any 'renewed interest' in the test format? That's what their aim is but if anyone isn't interested in sitting down and watching 5 days of cricket, then they won't be interested in a 4 day game either.

Argh, no! Really hope this doesn't go ahead.

I mean, as often as anything, I see a County Championship match that was a draw after four days and think "that actually could have been quite interesting if it had a fifth day".

Anyway, I don't know about you, but I always get the impression from the way some people from the ECB oo whatever go on about it that barely any tests go to the 5th day. But actually:

View attachment 23661

So, yeah, I'm not denying that it's a fair bit lower than a couple of decades ago, but 58.3% is still the majority of test matches.

It's a graph which intentionally cuts off more than half the Y-axis to present a misleading image.

 

[Woodster]

Yes this idea gets bandied about every now and then and it seems it is getting closer to actually being implemented in a Test soon. I agree with the comments so far, I love the traditional five-day game and certain things shouldn't be tampered with, it wouldn't feel right. I'm all for progressive change and the impact of T20 cricket can be seen in Test cricket in some aspects as a really positive thing, some of the innovative strokeplay, the standards of some of the fielding and new skills learnt by bowlers have all been enhanced with the advent of T20 cricket, but the Test cricket has also lost some crucial skills such as patience, batting techniques when the ball's doing a bit, etc, these are things that make the Tests so captivating and batting (and bowling) on a fifth day pitch adds to the drama and excitement.

Test cricket is literally a five-day Test like no other. It's not the format that needs to change just the mindset and skills of certain cricketers in order to play and succeed over five days.

 

[Starfighter]

I just don't get the point. How is 4 day test cricket going to produce any 'renewed interest' in the test format? That's what their aim is but if anyone isn't interested in sitting down and watching 5 days of cricket, then they won't be interested in a 4 day game either.



It's a graph which intentionally cuts off more than half the Y-axis to present a misleading image.

It's rather hard to think of the last time I saw a graph in the media that didn't do this. Or in quite a few scientific publications for that matter. It's partly a room thing as well.

And yes, fiddling with test cricket is not going to attract those who don't like it in the first place.

 

[honestbharani]

The main reason given is that they can schedule more matches. So in another 25 years time, another genius , likely from the ECB, will come up with the masterstroke that is 3 day tests. T20 taking up more time out of the international calendar is a problem and all it does, even if the reason they mentioned were true (and it is not), they are simply fixing a symptom.

 

[Starfighter]

It doesn't really happen anywhere.

I like to labour under the impression that other countries pitches wear better for some reason, even if it isn't true.

 

[Bijed]

I just don't get the point. How is 4 day test cricket going to produce any 'renewed interest' in the test format? That's what their aim is but if anyone isn't interested in sitting down and watching 5 days of cricket, then they won't be interested in a 4 day game either.



It's a graph which intentionally cuts off more than half the Y-axis to present a misleading image.

Yeah, I wasn't too irked about the y-axis thing tbh because that's pretty standard practice when you're trying to make a point (especially one that's isn't quite all there)

Although, I wonder how different the graph looks if you took out tests involving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh? I'm guessing the drop would be less pronounced

 

[S.Kennedy]

They hate the first-class game, the ECB. They hate it because it does not make as much money these days in comparison to the twenty20 stuff and money is all they care about. They hate it because traditionalists/purists love it who do not bring in as much money as families and lads-on-the-piss. They hate it because it does not have people in hot tubs, fireworks, trampolines and guys on motorbikes, that is that it is not a shiny new thing to flog to broadcasters (i.e. sky). It might interest you that the ECB are also buggering up the county championship, reducing it by two games per team and putting all of the twenty20 on in the high summer, as well as stopping internationals such as Broad and Root from playing for their counties.

 

[jimmy101]

The main reason given is that they can schedule more matches. So in another 25 years time, another genius , likely from the ECB, will come up with the masterstroke that is 3 day tests. T20 taking up more time out of the international calendar is a problem and all it does, even if the reason they mentioned were true (and it is not), they are simply fixing a symptom.

Yes, I can see that happening. Although, by then, T20 would be struggling to maintain relevance to the new & exciting T10, featuring Android bowling machines.

 

[S.Kennedy]

...on artificial pitches (which is another hair brained ECB scheme).