Cricket Australia renews push for four-day Tests and wants the MCG Test to be a permanent fixture on Boxing Day
Cricket Australia wants the Boxing Day Test to be set in stone at the MCG but is open to the “iconic” match — and Tests in general — being played over four days.
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Boxing Day should never move away from the MCG but Test matches could be cut to four days, according to Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts.
And New Zealand will not have to wait another 32 years to return to the blockbuster stage with “high-level discussions” already taking place to bring the Kiwis back somewhere between 2023 and 2031.
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Cricket Australia also wants to play an Ashes-length series against India, but only if it can scrap a Test match elsewhere so that its players are not overworked.
“The MCG Test is one of the perhaps two most iconic Tests on the planet, along with the Lord’s Test,” Roberts said on Friday, celebrating Cricket Australia’s partnership with the Alannah and Madeleine Foundation combating cyber-bullying.
“The reality is there’s only one venue in Australia that can host over 80,000 people on Boxing Day.
“Given the importance of the MCG Test to world cricket, I’d like to think (Boxing Day) would remain here in perpetuity.
“There’s a bit of work to be done on that front, but you’d have to say it’s best for world cricket to have a Boxing Day Test in Melbourne for many, many, many years to come.”
A massive crowd of 80,473 attended the MCG on Boxing Day, which was the biggest non-Ashes crowd in almost 50 years.
Roberts reiterated MCC chief executive Stuart Fox’s comments that the Boxing Day Test was the equivalent of two AFL Grand Finals staged over five days and should be locked in at the MCG permanently.
Roberts said that a recent survey revealed Aussie fans wanted an expanded Big Bash League and more innovation in Tests, in the form of day-night matches and four-day Tests.
“As we explore possibilities in the next cycle, from 2023-2031, it’s very important that we ask ourselves the right questions in world cricket,” Roberts said.
“You’ve got to look really seriously at the future of four-day Test cricket.”
Australia will host India in four Tests next summer and Afghanistan in one Test.
“In my heart I’d love to think we could do that (play India in a five-Test series),” Roberts said.
“The one thing we’re most focused on is the wellbeing of players, so we won’t be asking players to play anymore in the next eight-year cycle.
“If there was a way to play a five-Test series against India, and also maintain the wellbeing of our players and not ask them to play anymore, that would be a great solution. It remains to be seen whether that can all fit.”