International Cricket Council has approved South Africa’s four-day Test match against Zimbabwe later this year. After ICC’s meeting in Auckland on Friday, David Richardson confirmed that Boxing-Day Test will go ahead as scheduled with Test status.

Meanwhile, he also stated that teams are allowed play four-day Test matches till World Cup 2019 on a trial basis. “Members will be able to schedule four-day games by bilateral agreement and a set of standardized playing conditions will now be finalized,” said Richardson. “Our priority was to develop an international cricket structure that gave context and meaning across international cricket and particularly in the Test arena. This has been delivered and every Test in the new League will be a five-day Test format.”

He added “However throughout the discussions about the future of Test cricket it became clear that whilst context is crucial we must also consider alternatives and trial initiatives that may support the future viability of Test cricket. The trial is exactly that, a trial, just in the same way day-night Tests and technology have been trialed by members.”

“Four-day Tests will also provide the new Test playing countries with more opportunities to play the longer version of the game against more experienced opponents, which, in turn, will help them to hone their skills and close the gap with the top nine ranked teams,” former South African player revealed.

Thus, teams can play four-day Test with the agreement of both boards.