Taylor wants further Test changes

Cricket Australia board member and former captain Mark Taylor would like to see the introduction of four-day Test matches and a cricket championship.

Michael Clarke with former Australian captain Mark Taylor (L)

Cricket Australia board member Mark Taylor (L) would like to see four-day Test matches introduced. (AAP)

Pink-ball Test matches should only be the beginning of a cricket revolution, according to former Australian captain Mark Taylor.

Taylor, a current Cricket Australia board member, would also like to see the introduction of four-day, 100-over Tests and a clearer defined championship.

Like the PGA golfing tour, the former opening batsman believes all matches should begin on Thursdays, allowing games to build to a Sunday evening climax.

"As someone said to me years ago, why are we surprised when people go to one-day cricket and T20 cricket more than they do a Test match, when we put all the one-dayers and T20s on in school holidays and at night, and we put Test matches on during the week outside of school holidays," Taylor told News Corp Australia.

Taylor says he has discussed his ideas at an ICC level and they are now beginning to gather some momentum with different options being brought forward.

"You've got to look at the game as a whole. Where is cricket going? The younger generation generally want more instant gratification and I think over five days to keep them interested in the game is not so easy.

"People are more about who is the best in the world at the moment. They like watching World Cup finals if you're always working towards who is the best Test team in the world, that can only help the game."

Such a Test championship would likely include a similar scoring system to soccer, where three points are awarded for a victory and one given for a draw.

Taylor's comments come as the chief of the Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA), Tony Irish, warns against rapid changes to the game being taken too quickly.

Irish says while players should be given credit for allowing the Adelaide Test to go ahead, it should be seen as purely an experiment.

"This match needs to be seen strictly as an experiment. If there's one thing that everyone agrees on, it's that the pink ball in Test cricket is a big unknown," Irish told Fairfax Media.

"The views of the players following the Test match have to be central to any future decisions.

"The players' associations intend to be at the heart of representing those views back to CA and NZC (New Zealand Cricket), and FICA will also do that internationally where appropriate.

"Test cricket is seen as the pinnacle format by the majority of international players. The fact that players value it so highly is critical to its survival as a format around the world.

"One really shouldn't mess too much with that."

Cricket Australia has reportedly already contacted the Pakistan Cricket Board about securing a day-night Test for next summer.


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Source: AAP



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