Four-day Test matches, over limits and captain bans: Shane Warne’s plan to save Test cricket

SHANE Warne says fears for the future of Test cricket becoming irrelevant are very real. But the legendary leggie revealed his plan to breathe life into the game’s oldest form.

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AUSTRALIAN cricket great Shane Warne believes four-day Tests are the future for the longest form of the game which needs to be more “energetic” to maintain its place in the sporting landscape.

Warne, Australia’s leading all-time Test wicket taker with 708 scalps in 145 matches in the baggy green, has flagged a series of changes to the traditional format in a bid to protect it from the rise of the more commercially viable Twenty20.

Adamant Test cricket “brings out the best in players”, Warne advocated the shift to more intense action over four days in his new book “No Spin”, worried cricket officials aren’t doing their best to protect the game.

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As Australia prepares to re-enter the Test arena against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, the first match since the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, Warne also said no first innings in a Test match should go beyond 130 overs.

Last time Australia played Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, in 2014, the hosts batted the tourists out of the game in the first innings of both Tests, which lasted 145 and 164 overs respectively, and won the series convincingly.

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“I’m a big believer in four-day Tests. We need to move the game on. Over rates are ridiculously slow these days; I mean, teams struggle to bowl the minimum 90 in the day and most of the time they don’t,” Warne wrote.

“We presently have 450-over Test matches, most of which finish early. I’m proposing 384 overs over four days, with a first-innings limit of 130 overs.

“That pushes everyone to get on with the game, not drag it out because they can. And, if the overs are not bowled – remember, it’s only 16 an hour – the captain misses the next match.

Warne says day-night cricket should only be played in dry climates. Picture: AAP

“Each session should be two hours 10 minutes, and the two breaks for lunch and tea 30 minutes each.

“This would work better for day-night Test matches, which should be played in dry climates only – Adelaide, Barbados, Johannesburg, and most of India, for example. The game needs to be more energetic.”

The introduction of the Test Championship, which was announced earlier this year, rules out the chance for official four-day Tests for at least the next two years.

South Africa played Zimbabwe in an unofficial four-day Test in December last year in Port Elizabeth. The Proteas won the match inside two days.

Warne is one of the most respected voices in cricket. Picture: Getty

Warne also said players cause delays in Test matches which had become “painfully boring to watch”.

“Too many guys are wandering around like Brown’s cows – changing gloves, having drinks etc. It’s annoying!,” he wrote.

Amid the rise of Twenty20 leagues around the world, Warne also believes T20 internationals should be scrapped, and played only as a part of a World Cup every four years.

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