Mahindinho
State Vice-Captain
Initial response: BLOODY HELL, THAT'S MADNESS!
Now I've mulled it over a while, I guess it would be possible, with some changes. Making things more bowler-friendly, DEFINITELY. Longer boundaries, perhaps abolishing the "outside the line of legstump" LBW law, etc. Umpires have got better, thanks to Hawkeye analysis and the like, so I'm sure they'd be able to judge this correctly.
Once upon a time, on a batting pitch, 250 runs a day would be decent going. Nowadays, 300+ is the norm. Over 5 days, that's 1250 vs 1500 -- you could lose a day and still have as many runs. This is only going to get more pronounced with more T20 experience, in the same way that ODIs engendered quicker scoring in Tests.
Floodlights would minimise the time spent off due to bad light. Not sure of the merits of this with the red ball, but perhaps they could be used to allow play in worse light but not no light. For example, say the umpires will offer the batsmen the light if it goes below "10" on their meters. With floodlights, "10" would mean turning them on...and "7" would mean going off for bad light.
On the flip side, while 100+ overs a day may seem perfectly reasonable to an Englishman or an Aussie, you just do not get days that long on the subcontinent, especially around Christmas (India/Pak/Bang are all northern hemisphere, even if not muchly so).
*** HERESY ALERT ***
So, I've changed my mind. I've not been completely won over yet, but I think four day Tests are possible, especially if the 5th day is scheduled as a reserve day.
Now I've mulled it over a while, I guess it would be possible, with some changes. Making things more bowler-friendly, DEFINITELY. Longer boundaries, perhaps abolishing the "outside the line of legstump" LBW law, etc. Umpires have got better, thanks to Hawkeye analysis and the like, so I'm sure they'd be able to judge this correctly.
Once upon a time, on a batting pitch, 250 runs a day would be decent going. Nowadays, 300+ is the norm. Over 5 days, that's 1250 vs 1500 -- you could lose a day and still have as many runs. This is only going to get more pronounced with more T20 experience, in the same way that ODIs engendered quicker scoring in Tests.
Floodlights would minimise the time spent off due to bad light. Not sure of the merits of this with the red ball, but perhaps they could be used to allow play in worse light but not no light. For example, say the umpires will offer the batsmen the light if it goes below "10" on their meters. With floodlights, "10" would mean turning them on...and "7" would mean going off for bad light.
On the flip side, while 100+ overs a day may seem perfectly reasonable to an Englishman or an Aussie, you just do not get days that long on the subcontinent, especially around Christmas (India/Pak/Bang are all northern hemisphere, even if not muchly so).
*** HERESY ALERT ***
So, I've changed my mind. I've not been completely won over yet, but I think four day Tests are possible, especially if the 5th day is scheduled as a reserve day.
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