Dean Elgar and Faf Du Plessis oppose the concept of four-day Tests

South Africa players Dean Elgar and the skipper Faf Du Plessis have voiced their strong opposition to the four-day Tests concept. It has emerged that Cricket South Africa (CSA) failed to properly consult with their players prior to scheduling a four-day match against Zimbabwe. The board has scheduled the Boxing Day Test which will also be played under lights. Although the players have promised to take part in the match if the ICC approves CSA’s request for it to carry Test status, the game is likely to be cancelled in the event that it is not.

The recently concluded Test matches between South Africa and Bangladesh and Pakistan and Sri Lanka went into the fifth day. In fact, 16 wickets fell on the final day in Abu Dhabi and fans witnessed one of the most thrilling turnarounds in Test cricket in the near future. Also, the hosts needed the final day of the game to wrap up the innings of Bangladesh as the penultimate day of the game was marred due to rain. Elgar and Du Plessis stressed these facts and opposed the concept of four-day Tests strongly.

Why should Test cricket suffer?

The cricketers expressed their desire to play the five-day format and Du Plessis felt that removing a day would make the game less challenging. Elgar too suggested that cricket “should not tinker with something that’s not broken”. However, it remains to be seen if International Cricket Council (ICC) would approve the new idea of Test cricket when they will meet later this month.

“I am a fan of five-day Test cricket. I believe the great Test matches have gone to the last hour of the last day on day five. That’s what is so special about Test cricket. In four-day cricket or first-class cricket, it does feel easier because there are only four days. For five days you have to graft it out. Bowlers have to bowl a lot more and batters have to construct much bigger innings. This Test proved that a day five was needed. If it was a rain-off yesterday, it would have been very disappointing so I am a fan of that,” Du Plessis said.

“I’m a five-day Test specialist, and it must stay that way in my opinion. I don’t think you should tinker with something that’s not broken. If you go and play around the world, Test cricket is followed quite well. If you play in Australia, if you play in England, even if you play in South Africa against the relatively big nations you still get very good crowds. There are other formats that are being experimented with. I don’t see why Test cricket should suffer. I am a purist when it comes to that. Hopefully the game can have longevity in the five-day format,” Elgar said who was vociferous in his support of the traditional format of the game.

The South African skipper across all formats admitted that the four-day Test matches would bring in excitement, creative captaincy and sporting declarations but currently the format also tests the skills and patience of the players which is most important. “You will have creative captaincy, more aggressive game plans, sporting declarations. But I think with the way Test cricket is at the moment, it’s about how long you can go, how long can your skill sets last. That’s the challenge with Test cricket. When four-day Tests come, obviously people will just make sure they change and adapt the way the game needs them to. That’s what we as players have to do, we adapt our skill sets,” he continued.

While Faf hinted an element of flexibility on his part, the left-handed batsman Elgar was more emphatic in his message and also disagreed with the concept of day-night Tests. “Us as players, we know we still have to have a job. We have to go out and play for five days. I don’t think you should tinker with the duration of the match depending on who you are playing against. That’s when you start disrespecting the game a little bit and ultimately not favouring the format. You can ask me this as many times as you want. I am a five-day specialist and that’s the way it should stay,” he said.

South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has also expressed its concern over the scheduling of the game against Zimbabwe and cleared that the announcement was made by CSA without properly discussing with the players. “I expressed the concern to CSA before Haroon left that there was no proper consultation. There should have been proper consultation because there are a lot of cricket aspects – it is quite a big change to a new format, it’s four days and also day/night, playing against a team that has never played pink-ball cricket,” Tony Irish said, the chief executive of SACA.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to go into it. We know there are scheduling advantages but there hasn’t been enough work done on it. I understand why CSA want to do this. They want to provide content over a period where there is traditionally cricket. I am not sure that a four-day day/night Test against Zimbabwe is the answer,” he added.