Auckland, Oct 13 (PTI) The International Cricket Counciltoday approved four-day Tests on a trial basis, effectivelygiving green light to the Boxing Day Test between hosts SouthAfrica and Zimbabwe from December 26-29.
The ICC Board, after its meeting here, stated thatmembers are free to organise bilateral four-day matches as anexperiment till the 2019 World Cup.
"Our priority was to develop an international cricketstructure that gave context and meaning across internationalcricket and particularly in the Test arena. This has beendelivered and every Test in the new League will be a five-dayTest format," said ICC chief executive Dave Richardsonreferring to the Test Championship that will be played from2019.
"However throughout the discussions about the future ofTest cricket it became clear that whilst context is crucial wemust also consider alternatives and trial initiatives that maysupport the future viability of Test cricket. The trial isexactly that, a trial, just in the same way day-night Testsand technology have been trialled by Members.
"Four-day Tests will also provide the new Test playingcountries with more opportunities to play the longer versionof the game against more experienced opponents, which, inturn, will help them to hone their skills and close the gapwith the top nine ranked teams," he said further.
The first-ever four-day Test, to be played between SouthAfrica and Zimbabwe, will be played with the pink-ball andunder lights.
However, the experiment has attracted criticism from thelikes of South African captain Faf du Plessis. He recentlysaid that he remains a fan of five-day games.
"I am a fan of five-day Test cricket," du Plessis hadsaid earlier in the month.
"I believe the great Test matches have gone to the lasthour of the last day on day five. That's what is so specialabout Test cricket. In four-day cricket or first-classcricket, it does feel easier because there are only four days.
"For five days you have to graft it out. Bowlers have tobowl a lot more and batters have to construct much biggerinnings."Meanwhile, the ICC Board also approved a revised draftof Player Eligibility Regulations "which will come into effectin due course".
"Eligibility on the basis of nationality (residency) haschanged to the player needing to reside in country for athree-year period in both the men's and women's games," saidthe ICC. Earlier, the played needed to reside in a country forfour years to be eligible. PTI BS PMPM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.