4 Day - Test Cricket

[GVGjr]

I'm probably going to be fighting a losing battle here but I don't see why there is so much talk about bringing Test cricket back to 4 days.
Sure at the moment there isn't a lot of games going to 5 days because of the way batsman are taking an all or nothing approach and games are ending early but for goodness sake lets allow the game to evolve before making such a change. As I understand it is that the push is largely driven by the TV rights Broadcasters who sell their advertising for 5 days and then have to refund that money back to the businesses that sponsored.
To be honest I couldn't care less if that is a problem for the TV channels. I'm a spectator and cricket makes more than enough money so it's not like it's going to stop over night.

Years back Davis cup was a huge focus in this country and there was a heap of 5 set matches that had fans sitting on the edge of their seats willing their country home. Then some bright spark decided to change things around and condense the matches to a best of 3 sets and change the tournament around and as a result I can barely recall watching any Davis Cup games in the last 5 years.

The Davis Cup was once a very prestigious part of World Tennis and it's been devalued probably to fit into some Broadcasters vision of what Tennis should look like on the Tele.

If we reduce Test Cricket to 4 days it's shouldn't be because it makes life easier for the Broadcasters.

Interested in your thoughts?

[Stevo]

It's not broken so there is no need to make a change. The broadcasters don't have to sell the adverstising to companies on the 5th day and need to improve the negotiation perhaps at the end of day 2.

[jeemak]

Broadcasters are crucial to the game and commit resources to cover it over five days. If they end up having to refund it eats into their profit margins to a point (there'd be some fat or contingency in their model), and if they can't recover revenue they'll dilute the quality of the broadcast.

Not saying a change needs to occur now, but I can't see the game going slower than it is today. People like action, bats don't know how to dig in anymore, so if the trend continues it's a change that's inevitable.

[Grantysghost]

Just go with 1 innings of 20 Overs each and be done with it .

[GVGjr]

Broadcasters are crucial to the game and commit resources to cover it over five days. If they end up having to refund it eats into their profit margins to a point (there'd be some fat or contingency in their model), and if they can't recover revenue they'll dilute the quality of the broadcast.

Not saying a change needs to occur now, but I can't see the game going slower than it is today. People like action, bats don't know how to dig in anymore, so if the trend continues it's a change that's inevitable.

To me it's just way too early to make this suggested change. As much as Bazball has shaped cricket in the last few years I'd bet another coach will come along and demands his batsman learn the knack of digging in and draining the quick bowlers by keeping them out on the field longer.
There is a heap of money in cricket, it's far from struggling so I don't get the broadcasters issue.
Sure they want to make more money but there has to be other ways than changing Test cricket.
Apparently everyone copped it today because there was less than 15 over bowled and the crowd had to be refunded.
All of the cost associated with running the test on day one is worn by CA. Do we panic and insist that all venues have roofs so that we can get a full days cricket in?
To me it's just the cost of doing business, it's not ideal but we shouldn't be dramatically changing a traditional game just because the broadcasters have some challenges with their advertising.
It doesn't appear they have a problem getting companies to advertise and they are just trying to reduce some administrative costs.

The counter is that 4 days tests fix some scheduling challenges but I don't that should be driving the change.

How do we prepare spin bowlers for sub continent tours if they aren't getting occasionally getting to play on 4th and 5th day turners?

[jeemak]

To me it's just way too early to make this suggested change. As much as Bazball has shaped cricket in the last few years I'd bet another coach will come along and demands his batsman learn the knack of digging in and draining the quick bowlers by keeping them out on the field longer.
There is a heap of money in cricket, it's far from struggling so I don't get the broadcasters issue.
Sure they want to make more money but there has to be other ways than changing Test cricket.
Apparently everyone copped it today because there was less than 15 over bowled and the crowd had to be refunded.
All of the cost associated with running the test on day one is worn by CA. Do we panic and insist that all venues have roofs so that we can get a full days cricket in?
To me it's just the cost of doing business, it's not ideal but we shouldn't be dramatically changing a traditional game just because the broadcasters have some challenges with their advertising.
It doesn't appear they have a problem getting companies to advertise and they are just trying to reduce some administrative costs.

The counter is that 4 days tests fix some scheduling challenges but I don't that should be driving the change.

How do we prepare spin bowlers for sub continent tours if they aren't getting occasionally getting to play on 4th and 5th day turners?

It's more than administrative costs they're sucking up if there's no play. Equipment providers, contractors and vendors need to mobilise and would be hired for the full five days most likely. Then there's the on air "talent" that needs to be considered (accommodation, expenses etc.) which would quickly escalate into the hundreds of thousands - maybe more.

Commercial arrangements can be adapted to guarantee a fixed three day or four day retainer, with the fourth and/ or fifth being variable depending on length of play. Either way, it'll still cost the networks ultimately.

Not sure preparing the bowlers would come into it. Nothing replicates the sub-continent unless the pitch is specifically prepared that way. I guess the only way you could do that is if you installed more preparatory tour matches leading into a test series but that's not going to happen.......

[mighty_west]

Imagine having 4 day Test matches in India, different types of pitches really determine the days certain Tests are played and won, and it's fine for some to finish early like we did today, spicy pitches make for bowling friendly tracks, but it isn't always the case, then you have games like at the Gabba where it's rain affected, in which case would have been nice to have that one as a 6 day Test, the weather the following day up here was nice and perfect for cricket, that said stick with how it is with the 5 days.

[jeemak]

Did I hear something along the lines of there being an average of 55 overs bowled per innings this summer? That's completely nuts if true - but don't quote me on the statistic, I heard it while the radio was crackling in an underground car park (overground car parks aren't cool enough for me).