Andrew Strauss open to four-day Test cricket as sport battles declining audiences

Ideas for the future: Andrew Strauss
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Tom Collomosse30 May 2017

Andrew Strauss has opened the door to England playing four-day Tests.

With Test audiences declining around the world, reducing the length of matches has been discussed at a high level among governing bodies, and Strauss believes the idea has merit.

Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, floated the possibility of four-day Tests soon after taking office in 2015. Strauss’ comments come as Twenty20 cricket grows in influence, with the ECB expected to launch an eight-team, city-based competition featuring new teams in 2020.

Asked about Test cricket’s future, Strauss said: “I genuinely believe that every game of international cricket you play should have some sort of meaning.

“A World Test Championship and a World One-Day League would be really important opportunities.

“We are not quite there yet but we are making some progress, and I wouldn’t rule out the idea of four-day Test cricket, either.

“If we can get the playing conditions right, in the right circumstances, it might be a good thing in certain parts of the world. I am not necessarily saying it would happen in this country, but we can’t ‘love Test cricket to death’.

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“We have to think about how that format remains relevant in an era when the white ball, and certainly Twenty20, is taking over.”

England’s director of cricket added on Sky Sports: “The game can work over three forms but you have to limit volume of each. Teams want to play as much cricket as they can, so we need a programme that is compelling.”

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