The Allure Of Five-Day Cricket Matches

The sheer length of Test matches, cricket’s longest and most treasured format, seems like a relic from a quieter time. A Test match lasts five days and its maximum duration almost rivals an average work week. In many ways, it is quite astounding Tests have survived society’s rapidly changing pace and the frenetic advancement of technology which has contributed to a decrease in attention spans.

In the U.S. there is a constant dialogue over baseball’s diminishing status due to its matches being seemingly too long for younger audiences compared to sleeker sports such as American football, basketball and soccer.

Cricket has not been immune to these challenges and reinvented through shorter formats, notably 50-over cricket – played over eight hours – first introduced internationally in 1971 and the highly popular Twenty20 which lasts just over three overs.

Even shorter formats have been created in domestic leagues with other ideas to abbreviate the game being discussed. Reducing Test cricket’s length has long been discussed and the International Cricket Council eventually decided to trial a four-day Test between South Africa and Zimbabwe last December. There have been times in Test history where matches were played over three and four days.

England and Ireland will meet next year in a four-day Test and it is increasingly likely Test newcomers Ireland and Afghanistan will be initiated through these abbreviated matches. Several prominent cricket figures have supported the notion of four-day Tests citing that many matches struggle to reach the fifth day. In the 1980s, 77% of Tests lasted the duration compared to just 58% since 2000.

The popularity of Tests outside of Australia and England remains lukewarm although, importantly, India remain highly dedicated to Test’s cause led by captain Virat Kohli, a champion of the format who doubles as the most influential player in the game.

Worryingly, leading players in countries without financial heft, including the West Indies and New Zealand, are leaving Test cricket for the lucrative riches of the Twenty20 domestic leagues worldwide. It has left teams weakened and resulted in Test cricket being mired in a current flux without great teams and lacking genuinely riveting series. Flawed teams are overwhelmingly home strong but struggle abroad resulting in many one-sided and forgettable contests.

Still, despite all these obvious challenges, five-day Tests endures with its elongated length remaining an outlier in sports. To find ways to reinvent Tests instead of through subtraction, inventive ideas have been tried. Cricket Australia first experimented with day-night Tests in 2015, a concept involving playing from early afternoon through to around 9pm and played with a pink ball to ensure visibility amid the stadium’s lighting.

The day-night concept proved a major hit with record attendances and television ratings. It has since been spread around the world but India remain opposed to the idea in a major blow for the concept’s future viability.

Undoubtedly, the greatest advertisement for Test cricket remains its on-field product. Gimmickry can only go so far before the novelty factor wears off. After a lackluster period of Test cricket filled with cheating sagas, disappointing pitches and excruciating matches, the format came alive during the highly anticipated first Test between England and India in Birmingham that ended dramatically on Saturday.

Celebrating their 1000th Test in style, England won a thrilling match by just 31 runs in a riveting encounter that ebbed and flowed for its duration. The match barely lasted more than three days but the constant drama had fans hoping it wouldn’t end – like a page-turner of a novel.

Through a spicy pitch, which favored the bowlers but was not a minefield, there was a genuine contest between bat and ball ensuring constant pyrotechnics akin to a Mission Impossible film. At its best, Test cricket throws around more subplots than any other sport possibly can and there were plenty swirling around Edgbaston.

Whether it was Kohli battling his nemesis James Anderson, watching youngster Sam Curran emerge or Ben Stokes conjuring a tale of redemption, the first Test was cricket at its most intriguing, compelling and – ultimately – satisfying.

The third day ended with the match on tenterhooks with all possible results a distinct possibility and ensured a tension-filled period overnight – prolonged expectation unique in sports. It was like waiting for the final episode of your favorite television show to start.

It was a reminder of Test’s richly layered substance and a notable juxtaposition to its knockoff versions. Despite its shortcomings, which are magnified in today’s uncompromising world, Test cricket can flourish when all the ingredients – equally matched opponents, ideal conditions and superlative performances from superstars –blend together.

It remains to be seen whether the Edgbaston epic was merely a throwback to Test’s golden age but it has undoubtedly provided an early spark to the five-match series – which has the hallmarks of being an all-time classic.

The second Test, starting on August 9, can’t come fast enough.