 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suggested that there could be a possibility
of having four-day test matches from the future in order to protect the future
of the format and enrich it further in order to get the crowds in. Talking to
an Indian magazine, Morgan said, "Another thought that many people have,
that we are examining is whether Test match cricket can be played over four days
rather than five."
This was one of the suggestions that the ICC President, David Morgan
has hinted at, apart from having a two-tier test match structure and having
day-night test matches.
Even the Australian cricket board's chief executive, James Sutherland,
said that while the idea wasn't developed too much, it was definitely one of
the things on cards in the future. He said that former Australian skipper, Mark Taylor was one of those who had spoken about four-day test matches, but
did not know whether it has been taken forward.
However, the greater issue that faced test match cricket was to have better
pitches which will allow the batsmen and bowlers to have an equal say in the
result of the match, instead of the batsmen ruling the roost. Morgan said, "We
need better over-rates, better pitches that give a good balance between bat
and ball and we need to consider day-night Test cricket."
He also spoke about how better balls are needed for test cricket to be played
under lights. However, having white balls for the day-night games will mean
that the cricketers will have to wear coloured clothing, something that the
test cricket could do without.
This year has already seen test matches in West Indies and Pakistan
which have had more than 500 runs scored by both the teams resulting in tame
draws in the end. Hence, there is a greater demand for more sporting tracks
to be made.
Talking of the two-tier system in test cricket, with promotions and relegations,
Morgan said that there were pros and cons to the idea. While having such a structure
will ensure that the teams will be more evenly matched and the games will be
fought well, it would also create an issue with the monetary bit, as most teams
garner their revenues by playing against India. This structure will not allow
them to feature in the India games, meaning a lowering of their revenues!
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