Former England captain, Michael Vaughan, has shared his ideas to make Test cricket more interesting. He has asked for four days of play in Test cricket instead of five days. He wants matches to start on Thursday and finish on a Sunday. His reasoning? It’d be straightforward for everyone to understand when matches are happening.
He also pointed out that the style of cricket has changed; players these days aren’t playing with the same patience and strategy as in the ’80s or ’90s. Instead, they’re all about aggressive, quick wins to put the other team on the back foot. So, he believes it’s time for cricket’s bigwigs to think about shifting to a four-day format to match this new playing style.
What did Michael Vaughan say?
“It’d start on a Thursday and finish on a Sunday. It would be easy for everyone to understand that Test cricket starts every Thursday and finishes on a 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,” Vaughan told SEN Afternoons.
“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 added.
Of late, Test matches have mostly finished in two or three days due to the bowling pitches and the inability of the batters to apply themselves on the crease.
Hence, Vaughan wants Test matches to be shortened so that it can attract the fans more. The recent Pink ball Test match between Australia and India finished within two and half days. India were bowled out for 180 runs and 175 runs in each innings respectively. Australia scored 337 runs in the first innings and chased down the 19 runs in the second innings without losing any wicket.
