In a worrying sign for the future of the game, cricket's governing body are mulling a move to reduce Test cricket to a four day contest, in order to lighten the load on players.
With a deluge of limited overs cricket, coming in the form of ODI and T20 internationals, as well as the demand for domestic franchise based competitions such as the Indian Premier League, the ICC will formally consider the shift to four-day Tests from the 2023 World Test Championship.
Speaking to SEN Radio last week, Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts says that his organisation would support the move.
"It is something that we have got to seriously consider," he says.
"It is something that can't be driven by emotion, but it needs to be driven by fact. We need to look at what's the average length of Test matches over the past five-ten years in terms of time and overs.
"What we are committed to doing is working with all the ICC members - nobody is saying it is easy but what we are doing is looking at it holistically and we are committed to doing that."
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are also reported to be supportive of the idea, according to the Telegraph , as they plan to introduce their new 100 ball format into an already packed calendar.
However, that plan would likely be met with resistance from players, Australian captain Tim Paine making the point in his post-Boxing Day Test victory press conference.
"We might not have got a result if we'd done that in the Ashes, I think every game went to a fifth day," Paine told media.
"That's the point of difference with Test cricket, it is five days, it's harder mentally, it's harder physically, and it tests players more than the four-day first-class fixtures do. I think that's what it's designed to do, so I hope it stays that way."
Scheduled four day Test matches have been seen in recent years, with South Africa and Zimbabwe playing such a match in 2017, while England's one-off Test with Ireland earlier this year also the same format.
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