However, I’m
not going to condemn the experiment with four-day Tests, one of the innovations
approved by the ICC at Auckland this week. It’s true that in recent years we’ve
experienced some cracking five-dayers but, apart from those affected by the
weather, they are in the minority. In the few series contested between the big
guns and the lower-ranked nations, Tests often end inside three days, let alone
extend across the allocated five.
It’s not just
a hypothetic issue either; South Africa want to play a four-dayer against
Zimbabwe this winter so, once the details are hammered out, we are likely to
witness the first official abbreviated Test match by the end of the year. Could
Ireland’s debut Test, scheduled against Pakistan next May, be the second?
I’ve always
been in favour in principle of a Test series league and, along with a later ODI
league, that is also likely to be adopted from 2019. However, with the international
schedule already congested, it won’t be possible for all nine countries to play
each other, not even across the proposed two-year cycle.
Again, details
have yet to be agreed, but I imagine there could be tricky issues to be
addressed. For example, would a five-match Ashes victory be treated the same as
a two-game rubber involving Zimbabwe and Afghanistan? Money will dictate that
the top-ranked sides won’t want to contest unpopular series against the
relative minnows but the likes of England will be more likely to pick up
winners’ points in such competitions.
Whatever the
regulations, it could be an interesting three or four years, especially when
the proposed ODI league format is introduced prior to the 2023 World Cup. I don’t know how the competitions will pan
out but if they enhance interest in the older formats and prolong their
existence in the cricket calendar, I’m all in favour.
