Australia skipper Steve Smith and star opener David Warner have expressed that they have no desire to play four-day Tests, despite the fact that ICC is set to start the testing for the shortened version of Test matches.
During ICC’s board meeting in Auckland this month, they unveiled plans for the nine-nation Test championship in a bid to preserve the status of Test matches following the rapid growth of T20s. Among a barge of other reformations, it also agreed to experiment with four-day Tests, with South Africa and Zimbabwe set to trial the first in December.
But Smith and Warner are not willing to play 4-day Tests, even if the hours and over requirements of each day are extended to reduce variation with the traditional format. During an interview with cricket.com.au, Smith said, “Personally, I like five so I would like to keep it at five. Just the traditional way that Test cricket has been played, I think it’s great when you get into that fifth day and enter that last hour, I think it’s a really cool part of the game.”
Warner was even louder in his opposition as he said: “I have no interest in four-day cricket. You have so many variables in Test match cricket -– you’ve got weather, some games might be only getting three days but it just takes one day to have that weather come in and it can ruin it.”
He further elaborated, “Then on the flip-side, it’s a Test. It’s the longevity, being out there on your legs, it’s grit, determination, those things come to my mind to actually want to keep playing five-day cricket. Like a timeless Test (a feature of Test cricket in the 1920s and ’30s), it’s basically survival of the fittest.”
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland is however in support for the trial but indicated earlier this month it was unlikely Australia would take part any time soon. He said, “We were supportive of the trial… I think it’s about learning, it’s about innovation, it’s about understanding whether these sorts of things can work. I don’t foresee us playing any four-day Test cricket in that window. But that’s not to say we don’t support the trial. We’ll certainly be interested observers.”
