Cricket South Africa (CSA) made a brave call by scheduling a four-day boxing day Test against Zimbabwe without knowing the outcome of this scenario. Since this announcement, dark clouds are hovering over this match as first of all it has to gain the ‘Test status’ from ICC. Amidst all of this, two top Proteas players, Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar, lashes out the idea of the four-day Test match. Though, they agreed to be a part of it, if it gets Test status from ICC.
Captain Du Plessis said after his team won the first Test against Bangladesh on the morning of day five, “I am a fan of five-day Test cricket. I believe the great Test matches have gone to the last hour of the last day on day five. That’s what is so special about Test cricket. In four-day cricket or first-class cricket, it does feel easier because there are only four days.”
He further added, “For five days you have to graft it out. Bowlers have to bowl a lot more and batters have to construct much bigger innings. This Test proved that a day five was needed. If it was a rain-off yesterday, it would have been very disappointing so I am a fan of that.”
Elgar also gave his voice to five-day format and said it should remain as it is. He said, “I’m a five-day Test specialist, and it must stay that way in my opinion. I don’t think you should tinker with something that’s not broken. If you go and play around the world, Test cricket is followed quite well. If you play in Australia, if you play in England, even if you play in South Africa against the relatively big nations you still get very good crowds.”
“There are other formats that are being experimented with. I don’t see why Test cricket should suffer. I am a purist when it comes to that. Hopefully, the game can have longevity in the five-day format.”
The southpaw further added, “Us as players, we know we still have to have a job. We have to go out and play for five days. I don’t think you should tinker with the duration of the match depending on who you are playing against. That’s when you start disrespecting the game a little bit and ultimately not favoring the format. You can ask me this as many times as you want. I am a five-day specialist and that’s the way it should stay.”
Former coach Russell Domingo and ex-CEO of CSA Haroon Lorgat discussed the Day-Night four-day Test during their tenure but the matter is yet to be discussed with the players through South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA). Tony Irish, SACA’s chief executive, said “I expressed the concern to CSA before Haroon left that there was no proper consultation. There should have been proper consultation because there are a lot of cricket aspects – it is quite a big change to a new format, it’s four days and also day/night, playing against a team that has never played pink-ball cricket.”
He further stated, “There’s a lot of work that needs to go into it. We know there are scheduling advantages but there hasn’t been enough work done on it. I understand why CSA want to do this. They want to provide content over a period where there is traditionally cricket. I am not sure that a four-day day/night Test against Zimbabwe is the answer.”
Meanwhile, South African skipper Faf du Plessis believes that this change can increase a headache for skippers and it will make them even creative. He believes, “You will have creative captaincy, more aggressive game plans, sporting declarations. But I think with the way Test cricket is at the moment, it’s about how long you can go, how long can your skill sets last.”
“That’s the challenge with Test cricket. When four-day Tests come, obviously people will just make sure they change and adapt the way the game needs them to. That’s what we as players have to do, we adapt our skill sets,” he concluded.
