ICC Cricket Committee member Mahela Jayawardene on Wednesday said Tests should remain a five-day affair even though the body he is a part of will discuss curtailing the format to four days in an upcoming meeting.
Former India captain Anil Kumble, who heads the cricket committee of the sport’s governing body, has said that the proposal will be discussed in the next round of the ICC meetings, to held in Dubai from March 27-31.
Jayawardene said he is personally against any change in the Test format.
“We will discuss it in the meeting in March, and I don’t know what will happen after that but my personal opinion is that it should remain five days. I would not want any change,” he told PTI.
The likes of Andrew Strauss, Rahul Dravid, and Shaun Pollock are also on the cricket committee.
Shedding pseudo-light on a non-problem
Legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham has urged the ICC to leave Test cricket “alone” after England’s thrilling win against South Africa in the final hour of the fifth day.
“Well played England...Such a good idea to end 5day test cricket....full house watching cricket at its best !! Leave the flag ship of cricket alone it’s a real test of character, skill,guts,stamina & ability...it’s real cricket for real players !!! Leave it Alone !!!!!!,” Botham tweeted after Ben Stokes’ three-wicket burst on the final evening ensured a series levelling 189-run win for visitors.
The proposal, which has been floated for the 2023-2031 cycle, has not gone down well with the greats of the game, including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, opposing the idea.
However, member boards from England and Australia are open to the idea while BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly has said that “it is too early” to talk about it.
Ahead of the three-match T20 series opener against Sri Lanka in Guwahati last week, Kohli made his stance very clear on the subject.
Leading Australia spinner Nathan Lyon has termed the idea “ridiculous”.
More recently, Australian great Ponting expressed his disapproval of four-day Tests.
Among former players who want to see four-day Tests are Shane Warne, Mark Taylor and Michael Vaughan.
The ICC wants to try out four-day Tests primarily to free up space in the crowded calendar and use that time for the commercially lucrative shorter formats.
It is not a new phenomenon. England and Ireland played a four-day Test last year. South Africa and Zimbabwe too played one in 2017.
