Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak has expressed that may be four-day matches aren’t the future of Test cricket, but they will help to level the playing field between the so-called bigger nations and the minnows.

South Africa will lock horns with Zimbabwe in the first official four-day Test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Boxing Day and it will also be a day-night affair.

There will be 98 overs in a day, and the follow-on target has been reduced from 200 to 150. Streak reckons the playing conditions will force teams to take more risks in order to win the game, playing into the hands of the underdogs. He said, “In terms of higher and lower ranked (teams), it is much harder to bat a team out (of the game) because in doing so you might make it harder to win the Test. It is a challenge, though the 98 overs in a day does make it a four-and-a-half day Test. It will be interesting and exciting to be part of, hopefully, it is something that does work out for the future of Test cricket.”

The four-day format has not been met with the same enthusiasm by South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis as he said, “I believe some of the great Test matches have gone to the last over on day five and that is what is so special about five-day cricket. Four-day or first-class cricket does feel a bit easier, whereas for five days bowlers have to bowl a lot more and batters have to construct much bigger innings.”