LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Good changes afoot as four-day Tests arrive on our shores
Four-day Tests will keep the format alive and may even revive it
In a week’s time, a little piece of cricket history will be made with the playing of the first four-day Test match between the Proteas and Zimbabwe at St George’s Park, SA’s oldest international venue. It will also be the first day-night match on SA’s soil so both formats will be on trial. Most cricket lovers tend towards "traditional" values and instinctively fear or at least mistrust change. These innovations are, however, good things on balance and deserve to be supported. Four-day Tests will keep the format alive and may even revive it as national boards and the best players try to squeeze more and more lucrative, domestic Twenty20 cricket into their schedules.And starting play at 1.30pm means families can spend the morning on the beach together or visit granma before arriving for a late lunch and some evening entertainment. The prospect of back-to-back Test series against India and Australia in the first quarter of 2018 is as exciting as it gets — or may ever get having had a g...
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