Australia hammered India in just over two days in the second Test in Adelaide to level the five-match series 1-1. Across the Tasman Sea, England defeated New Zealand by 323 runs at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, to draw parity in a three-match series.
Usually, a Test match is supposed to last five days but like the two cases mentioned above, a significant number of matches don’t go the distance, ending a day or two earlier.
Test cricket isn’t the same as before. Almost all red-ball matches, unless affected by inclement weather, produce results. Only three Test matches out of the previous 50 have ended in a draw. Interestingly, all three ended in a stalemate due to rain.
The younger generation has grown up playing T20 cricket and the players throw caution out of the window in favour of an attacking brand of cricket.
With more and more Test matches culminating before schedule, it leads to huge monetary losses for the broadcasters, who end up incurring losses to the tune of crores in advertisement money.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has suggested a solution to keep both all stakeholders of the game happy.
“We’ve got players that are incredibly entertaining now. I’d start on a Thursday and finish on a Sunday,” Vaughan told SEN Afternoons, as quoted by The Indian Express.
“I believe four-day cricket would be easier to schedule. It’d be easy for everyone to understand that Test match, cricket starts every Thursday when we’re playing the Test match game and it finishes on a Sunday… if it makes it to Sunday.
“Let’s be honest, the way that the players go out and play their business now, they don’t play like I used to play or some of the teams back in the 80s and 90s played.
“They’re playing a brand of cricket which is pretty much to try and win as quick as they possibly can and put the opposition under pressure.
“So, I genuinely believe that the administrators around the world need to seriously consider if it’s time to go from five (days) to four,” he concluded.
Given how Test cricket is being played these days, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the cricket administrators decide to reduce its duration to just four days.
