Such a change is going to happen in Test cricket in the coming days which will be very surprising. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is ready to approve four-day Test matches for smaller countries. This change can be seen only in the 2027-29 World Test Championship (WTC). But India, Australia, and England can continue to play five-day matches.

The report of this possible change in Test cricket has been published by England's newspaper Guardian. The report claims that reducing the number of matches by one day will help smaller countries play more Tests and longer series. The report said, 'ICC President Jay Shah has expressed his support for four-day Tests for the 2027-29 WTC cycle. This was discussed during the WTC final at Lord's last week.'

According to the report, 'India, England, and Australia will still be allowed to play five-day Test matches for the Ashes, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. The Anderson Tendulkar Trophy between England and India begins at Headingley on Friday.'

The ICC first approved four-day Tests for bilateral matches in 2017. England also played a four-day Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge last month after playing four-day Tests against Ireland in 2019 and 2023. According to the report, 'Many small countries are not interested in hosting Test matches due to time and cost. With the introduction of four-day Test matches, the entire series of three Test matches can be played in less than three weeks. To avoid wasting time, the playing time in four-day Test matches has been increased from 90 overs per day to a minimum of 98 overs. 'The report said, 'Despite becoming world champions in a thrilling final against Australia at Lord's last week, South Africa's monotonous schedule further highlighted the issue and after this, the need for change was felt. ' However, the 2025-27 World Test Championship will be played under the current format of five-day matches.

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