ICC Considering to Add Four-Day Tests to World Test Championship From 2023: Report
Two four-day Tests have been played already. South Africa hosted Zimbabwe in 2017, and the match lasted only two days. Earlier this year, ahead of the Ashes, England hosted Ireland for the four-day Test. The match interestingly ended in three days.
International Cricket Council (ICC) is considering to add four-day Tests to the World Test Championship from 2023 onwards. As per ESPNCricinfo report, ICC's cricket committee could well formally consider the change in 2020. The whole idea behind this proposed change is to cut down the number of playing days with the growing size of domestic T20 leagues and the cost of staging a Test series. If four-day Tests become mandatory, then playing days for the 2023 to 2031 cycle would reduce significantly. ICC World Test Championship 2019-21 Points Table Updated.
Meanwhile, Tony Irish, the head of Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) has said that ICC needs to come up with a clear schedule if four-day Tests become mandatory. "There are two aspects to four-day Tests, the cricket aspect and the scheduling aspect. 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,” Irish was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. ICC World Test Championship Schedule 2019-2021: List of Cricket Matches to Be Played Under WTC.
"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,” he added.
Two four-day Tests have been played already. South Africa hosted Zimbabwe in 2017, and the match lasted only two days. Earlier this year, ahead of the Ashes, England hosted Ireland for the four-day Test. The match interestingly ended in three days. There are reports of Cricket Australia (CA) seriously considering four-day Tests.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 30, 2019 02:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).