Enough tinkering! Five days is the way forward for Test cricket

Chris Stocks says Test cricket should stay at five days despite Colin Graves’ hopes for change

With football’s European Championship starting today and talk of Test cricket’s impending demise, it was pleasing to see a 26,000 sell-out crowd pack a sun-drenched Lord’s yesterday.

With England already 2-0 up in the series, this final Test against Sri Lanka is a dead rubber. Lord’s, though, is different from Durham or Delhi. The Home of Cricket doesn’t have a problem attracting big crowds for Test matches.

At the time of writing, the first four days of this match were sold out and there were just 1,000 spare tickets for the fifth day – presuming it gets that far.

Of the last eight Tests played in England, only one has gone to a fifth day, the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley last summer. So, news yesterday that Colin Graves, speaking exclusively to Wisden editor Lawrence Booth in the Daily Mail, was lobbying for four-day Tests should not come as a surprise.

Graves, chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, first mooted this idea last year. Now, though, he has restated it, with the caveat that the proposal has the backing of the majority of International Cricket Council full member boards.

Australia, at the forefront of pushing day-night Test cricket, would, said Graves, back the four-day plan now. Graves’ idea is to restrict all Tests to four days, starting at the earlier time of 10.30am, comprising of 105 overs each. There would also be a reserve day for bad weather. In theory this would mean the loss of just 30 overs from the five days of 90 overs we see now. Most clubs, argues Graves, lose money if a Test goes to a fifth day anyway and packing more overs into fewer days would help speed up the game and allow it to hold the interest and remain relevant to the T20 generation.

“I love Test cricket, but it’s a worry when you look around the world and see diminishing numbers of spectators,” Graves said.

“It saddens me and we have to do something about it. If it were a business, we’d pull it to bits and re-do it. From what they’ve said, Australia would look at it, but it’s not just about four-day games: it’s about revitalising Test cricket. There are lots of questions to consider.”

Like splitting Test cricket into two divisions, a move the ICC is expected to ratify later this month, four-day matches are, it is hoped, another innovation that will ‘save’ the longest form of the game.

However, even without looking at the impracticalities of trying to fit 105 overs into a day, does Test cricket really need saving?

It was probably poor timing for Graves that this story ran on a day when Lord’s was a picture postcard – sunny, packed and witness to a fascinating day’s play.

However, I have witnessed such days all across the world over the past year following England on the road at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, Newlands, the Wanderers, even Sharjah. Maybe Sri Lanka against West Indies in Pallekele would be a poorly-attended match. But would reducing the number of days magically have the fans flocking to a Test between those sides at that venue?

Graves has had a habit of shooting his mouth off since taking over his post last year. There were the ill-advised remarks offering Kevin Pietersen hope of an England recall that was never on the cards, even after his triple-hundred for Surrey.

Then the Yorkshireman branded the West Indies “mediocre”, shortly before a Test series they drew that resulted in Peter Moores getting the sack as England coach, And England’s own domestic T20 competition then got the “mediocre” tag thrust upon it by Graves earlier this month, a Gerald Ratner moment if ever there was one.

Graves and the ECB in general appear to be in an arms race with India and Australia to come up with the silver bullet that will ‘save’ Test cricket. But perhaps the best thing would be to leave it alone and stop tinkering?

India yesterday announced venues for 13 home Test matches over the next year. They clearly believe the oldest form of the game still sells. There may not be sell-out crowds in Rajkot and Chennai, two of the places where Alastair Cook’s side will play in their five-match series this winter, but crowds will be significant I’d imagine just as they were on England’s last visit in 2012.

One problem with the idea of playing four-day Tests – and perhaps the biggest stumbling block – is the notion you can fit 105 overs into a day.

That would require 15 overs an hour, something that rarely happens now when, save for Tests where spin dominates, it is nigh on impossible to cram 90 overs into three two-hour sessions.

Umpires can penalise teams for slow over rates. But if the penalties are going to have an effect then we’re talking docking runs, which would threaten the integrity of the contest. Also, think back over the years and savour the fantastic Tests that have captivated on a fifth day.

The Cardiff Ashes opener in 2009, England’s subsequent great escapes at Centurion, Cape Town and Auckland. The Headingley Ashes Test  of 1981, the greatest comeback since Lazarus, would never have happened either if we’d had four-day Tests back then.

Jim Laker’s 10-for against the Aussies at Old Trafford in 1956, the tied Test between Australia and West Indies at Brisbane in 1960, and England’s sensational win in the Karachi gloom in 2000 all occurred on thrilling fifth days.

Maybe we could cram the overs in somehow so we get equally fascinating finishes on day four. And, yes, most Tests struggle to get to a fifth day now anyway. But is there anything better in this sport than a dramatic denouement to five days of enthralling cricket? Do we want to lose that forever?

In a world where the solution to most things seems to be to shorten it, it’s a foolish person who forgets the maxim that some things that are really worth waiting for. Sometimes even five days.

This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, Friday June 10 2016

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