MCC Bats for Test Cricket to Remain Five-Day Games

The influential Marylebone Cricket Club has thrown its weight behind five-day Test cricket as debate swirls over the future of the longest form of the game.

The International Cricket Council will in the coming months discuss a proposal to reduce Tests to four days as part of structuring the global calendar beyond 2023. But the latest proposal, part of an effort to tackle the crowded international cricket schedule and save on costs, has divided players and fans, many of whom consider Tests the gold standard.

The ICC allowed four-day Tests in 2017 and they have been tried in one-off games between South Africa and Zimbabwe and England against Ireland. But they are not allowed in the Test world championship, which is currently led by Virat Kohli’s India.