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The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to approve four-day Tests for the 2027-2029 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, aiming to support smaller nations.
The current WTC cycle, which commenced today with the match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, is limited to five-day Test matches.
During the 2025-27 WTC cycle, there will be only 27 Test series among the nine countries. These series will comprise 17, which are just two matches long, while a three-match Test series will be played six times.
Among the countries, India, England and Australia will face each other in a five-match Test series.
The idea of playing four-day Tests in the next cycle was perceived in the recently concluded WTC final. ICC Chairman Jay Shah threw his support behind the idea.
However, the highly anticipated series involving England, Australia, and India — such as the Ashes, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and the newly introduced Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy — will retain the five-day format.
It is worth noting that the ICC initially permitted four-day Tests for bilateral contests in 2017. The previous month, England faced Zimbabwe in a one-off four-day historic Test at Trent Bridge.
The notion of four-day Tests emerged after South Africa’s recent triumph over Australia, who lost their title defence by five wickets, a match that ended on the fourth day.
According to the report, many small nations are hesitant to host Tests due to the time frame, as well as financial woes. Meanwhile, with four-day Tests, the schedule could be shortened to a less than three-week timeframe.
The four-day Test match conditions feature 98 overs per day, in contrast to 90 overs in the five-day match, with an extended time to complete the overs.
The proposed decision could benefit Test-playing nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies by allowing them to play more Test matches in an otherwise packed schedule
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