“On that day (in February), our view was that we will continue with five-day Tests. But this is a dynamic view. This is a very tentative view,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told Cricbuzz.
“Unfortunately, we’ve not had the occasion to discuss this aspect in the (BCCI) general body. The views of the general body will have to be taken on this subject.”
The four-day test matches would hugely benefit all the cricketing nations apart from England, Australia and India- who still enjoy large crowds for the longer format.
Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Faisal Hasnain has voted in favour of the four-day test matches as the African nation is one of the financially least powered boards.
“For a country like Zimbabwe, we don’t make money from Test matches unless we play India,” Hasnain explained to Cricbuzz. “Every Test match costs us money. If we could play two four-day matches instead of two five-day matches against West Indies next month – because I have to prepare for five days – it would cut costs by 20 percent. For me, that’s a lot of money.
“From a cost perspective, for a lot of small countries, I think it’s a way forward. It may allow some teams to play more cricket, or fulfil the minimum number of matches to stay on the Test league.”With ICC Test Championship set to begin in a couple of years, some big changes can be made to the structure of test cricket as ICC are determined to keep Test format alive.