Smith, Warner say no to four-day Tests

Australia skipper Steve Smith and Vice-captain David Warner, on Wednesday, dismissed the idea of playing four-day Test in a setback to international cricket chiefs who have floated the concept to preserve the longest format.

New Delhi: Australia skipper Steve Smith and Vice-captain David Warner, on Wednesday, dismissed the idea of playing four-day Test in a setback to international cricket chiefs who have floated the concept to preserve the longest format.

The idea was proposed by the International Cricket Council to maintain viewer’s interest in an era of fast growing T20 cricket.

But Smith and Warner are not keen, even if the hours and over requirements of each day are extended to reduce disparity with the traditional format.

"Personally, I like five so I would like to keep it at five," Smith said in an interview with cricket.com.au.

"Just the traditional way that Test cricket has been played, I think it's great when you get into that fifth day and enter that last hour, I think it's a really cool part of the game."

Warner was even more strident in his opposition, saying:

"I have no interest in four-day cricket".

"You have so many variables in Test match cricket -- you've got weather, some games might be only getting three days but it just takes one day to have that weather come in and it can ruin it," he told the same website.

"Then on the flip-side, it's a Test.

"It's the longevity, being out there on your legs, it's grit, determination, those things come to my mind to actually want to keep playing five-day cricket.

"Like a timeless Test (a feature of Test cricket in the 1920s and '30s), it's basically survival of the fittest."

However, the first Four-day Test will be played between South Africa and Zimbabwe on Boxing Day