With over 70 per cent of Test matches in the 2023-25 World Test Championship ending inside four days, should the format be officially shortened, asks Sarah Waris.
When South Africa lifted the World Test Championship mace at Lord’s, it wasn’t just a win, it was a moment they had been waiting for for years. Their triumph over Australia marked their first-ever senior world title across both men’s and women’s formats. The weight of history was lifted, decades of disappointment washed away in just over three days of intense, high-quality Test cricket.
But that final, which was done and dusted minutes before the first session of day four, wasn’t an anomaly. In the 2023–25 WTC cycle, a total of 70 Tests were played, of which only 19 stretched to a fifth day (including one scheduled over six days due to a rare rest day). That leaves a staggering 51 Tests, nearly three-fourths of all matches, that were wrapped up within four days or fewer. 2024, which has been widely hailed as a golden year for the format, saw 41 out of 49 Tests not venturing into the fifth day.
So, if the game is evolving naturally towards four days, is it time to make a more permanent switch?
The idea of four-day Tests isn’t new. The ECB first floated the proposal back in 2015. The ICC briefly experimented with four-day games, including the Boxing Day Zimbabwe-South Africa Test in 2017, but no matches in the three WTC cycles were official four-day games, though England and Zimbabwe did recently play a Test scheduled over four days outside of the competition. At the time, it struggled for adoption by purists, who felt that a reduction ran contrary to the mental and physical challenges that make Test cricket what it is.
But the modern game has changed. Test cricket now fights for space in a calendar bursting at the seams with franchise leagues, white-ball World Cups, and bilateral T20I series. Boards are under financial pressure, broadcasters prefer certainty, and players themselves often lean towards formats that are shorter, lucrative, and less taxing on the body. With increasingly packed schedules and frequent player injuries, the sustainability of the traditional five-day format is being questioned.
According to a report in The Guardian on Monday (June 16), the ICC is exploring the possibility of incorporating four-day Tests into the World Test Championship calendar, to enable smaller cricketing nations to play more matches and series. Discussions around the proposal reportedly took place during the WTC final at Lord’s, where ICC chair Jay Shah is believed to have indicated his support. The move, if approved, could see four-day Tests formally introduced as early as the 2027–29 WTC cycle, signalling a significant shift in how the longest format is structured.
Four-day Tests will make broadcasters happy
Broadcast satisfaction is crucial in cricket, but the unpredictability of Tests, once considered its charm, has become a liability for television networks. Back in 2015, Star India, for instance, reportedly incurred a loss of around INR 80 crore in advertising revenue after nearly 75 hours of cricketing action was lost in the series against South Africa, where one match ended in three days, and another saw action only on the opening day.
Given that broadcasters pay the BCCI INR 67.75 crore per Test as of 2023, the same amount charged for ODIs and T20Is, which guarantee more viewership in less time, the financial strain becomes obvious.
Television numbers also tell the story. In 2018, when India played 14 Tests against marquee opponents like England, South Africa and Australia, the matches drew 211 million impressions, according to BARC [Broadcast Audience Research Council]. In comparison, 20 ODIs garnered 367 million impressions, while 19 T20Is drew a staggering 446 million. That Test matches require more airtime while delivering significantly fewer eyeballs makes them a tough sell in a competitive broadcast market.
…while making the schedules more manageable
Consider this: if all Tests from 2015 to 2023 had been scheduled over four days, cricket boards would have collectively saved around 335 days in their calendars. That’s nearly a full year of scheduled playing time. A formal shift to four-day Tests would allow boards to structure the calendar more efficiently, creating windows that could be used for recovery, travel, or to accommodate additional fixtures without last-minute chaos.
As Kevin Roberts, former Cricket Australia CEO, put it: “It is something that we have got to seriously consider [four-day Tests]. It can’t be driven by emotion; it needs to be driven by fact. What we absolutely will do is work with all ICC members…What we are doing is looking at it holistically.”
He’s not wrong. Hosting a Test match is an expensive affair. Ground upkeep, staff, security, broadcasting, hospitality, all those costs add up with each passing day. A shorter format would allow boards to focus on high-return days while reducing overheads. It also opens up the possibility of slotting Tests neatly from Thursday to Sunday, maximising weekend viewership.
Another benefit? The potential for longer series. Several teams do not play beyond a two-match Test series in the upcoming WTC cycle, including Bangladesh, Pakistan (barring against England), South Africa (except vs England) and Sri Lanka. These short contests leave no room for narrative development or comebacks. By shaving off a day per Test, boards might be able to stretch two-Test series into three-match affairs.
A shift to four-day Tests could also bring about a rise in drawn matches, allowing sides to scrape through for four days, but that needn’t be seen as a negative. Draws have long been a vital part of Test cricket’s narrative fabric, often rewarding grit, time management, and defensive excellence, forcing batters to grind it out for a few extra hours as they look for crucial WTC points.
They won’t solve everything, but offer the best solution
Of course, there will be downsides. Weather remains an ever-present threat, and a rain-hit afternoon could heavily skew a four-day contest. And while bowlers have adapted to higher workloads, the requirement to bowl 98 overs a day, particularly in back-to-back series, may stretch squads thin.
Add to that the reality that many teams still struggle with overrates. Despite the ICC’s recent penalties and deductions, several matches fail to meet the daily quota, raising doubts about whether 98 overs a day is realistically achievable, even if the playing time is extended.
Tony Irish, former head of the international players’ association FICA, had cautioned: “It [Four-day Tests] would take pressure off the schedule, but our concern would be that in the ad hoc way the calendar currently works, they would simply plug in more cricket into the gaps.”
The change, if made, must be done with balance. It cannot be used as a loophole to jam even more matches into an already overflowing calendar, which will beat the whole purpose of the change.
A permanent shift to four-day Tests won’t solve everything. But it could offer Test cricket the chance to stay alive for the next generation, for them to revel in it and appreciate the beauty in unpredictability. It’s not about losing tradition. It’s about choosing survival.
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