Cricket Australia open to trying out four-day Test matches

What's the story?

Eager to bolster dwindling in-stadium attendances, Cricket Australia (CA) are deliberating on the possibility of hosting four-day Test matches on Australian soil. CA Chief Executive Kevin Roberts has urged all Full Members to be open to the idea of shortening the duration of Test matches, even beyond the scope of the upcoming World Test Championship.

The background

Up until five-day Test cricket became the norm, there were several instances of four-day Tests during the early years. The last high-profile instance of four-day Test cricket came in 1973, when New Zealand took on Pakistan in a three-match series at home.

Nearly 44 years later, South Africa hosted Zimbabwe for a four-day floodlit Test at Port Elizabeth.

The heart of the matter

Roberts told SEN Radio, "Outside the Test Championship, that's the opportunity. The Test Championship is five-day Test cricket out to 2021, so that doesn't change, but outside of that there are other possibilities to consider and beyond that, beyond 2021 what it might look like. There's a bit to be said for it isn't there, and it's certainly something I think we need to be open-minded to down the track,"

He added, "The average duration of a Test match is just a shade over four days and certainly without jumping to conclusions that that is the right solution, it is one possibility we've got to be open to. There's been timeless Tests over the years, we know there were even three-day Tests, so Test cricket has not been five days in duration forever, and I think the concept of four days going forward is something we need to be open to without jumping to conclusions."

Cricket Australia are eyeing an one-off fixture against Afghanistan during November 2020 as a potential opportunity to trial four-day Test cricket on Australian soil. Their attempts at scheduling a four-day Test match against Ireland, ahead of the 2019 Ashes, did not materialize as the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) leapfrogged them to finalize the landmark fixture at Lord's.

With India set to visit Australia for a Test series in 2020-21, CA are eager to begin that particular summer with a four-day Test match against Afghanistan. Unlike the mandated quota of 90 overs per day in the current format, the shortened format could see a prescribed quota of 100 overs per day.

What's next?

The World Test Championship is set to begin next year, and the West Indies versus India series is expected to be the first fixture in the league. The inaugural edition will run until June 2021, and all matches in the tournament will be five-day affairs.

However, there is always a possibility of the top nine teams scheduling out-of-championship four-day Tests with the likes of Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland. CA are hoping that theirs and ECB's scheduling of four-day Tests with Afghanistan and Ireland respectively will pave the way for a watershed moment in the purest format.