'The pace of life has changed'

Boycott suggests four-day floodlit Tests

Cricinfo staff

November 29, 2007

'People today have jobs and they don't want a Test match to last five days' © Getty Images

He said that crowds at recent Tests in Australia, India and South Africa had shown that in most countries the public no longer bought into the traditional five-day format.

"I think the national boards of all the countries should take responsibility," Boycott told Cricinfo. "The pace of life has changed. [Years ago] an India-Pakistan Test would be sold out twice over and you wouldn't be able to get a seat. But people today have jobs and they don't want a Test match to last five days.

"I would recommend four-day Tests. I would try to increase the over-rate, because people want to pack more into life, and I would play day-night Tests. Kerry Packer tried it in 1977-78 and '78-79. He had a few Tests that were played at night and they got good crowds. I think it is time the administrators did something about this.

"India is one of the places to try it because their board is forward-looking. It can do whatever it wants: it is wealthy and powerful and it can get crowds in at night."

In the second season of World Series Cricket the Supertests were played over four days starting at 2.30pm and continuing until 10.30pm with shortened intervals. The total playing time was 30 hours - the same as in a normal Test - and the matches were played under lights. They were popular and attracted much higher audiences than the traditional daytime games.

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