Glenn McGrath voices against four-day Tests, says day-night matches the way to go to keep longest format alive

Mumbai: Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath is not in favour of tinkering with the five-day format, saying to bring in more fans to the game, day-night Test matches is the way forward. McGrath said the growing popularity of the T20 cricket is good for the sport and probably the new fans will embrace the challenging Test format. [caption id=“attachment_8090541” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath. Image credit: Twitter/@ICC[/caption] “I am a big fan of Test cricket. To me, Test cricket is still the ultimate and we got to keep the game fresh, people enjoying it. T20 has taken the world by storm, it is bringing a lot more people to cricket and that is brilliant and hopefully that will filter into Test cricket,” McGrath told reporters in Mumbai. “We have got to keep Test cricket alive and moving forward and positive and people coming to the game. And to me, the way to that is day-night Test cricket. I am big fan of it. I’m not a big fan of four-day Test cricket. I’m very much a traditionalist – five days – that’s Test cricket to me,” elaborated McGrath. “But if we can bring something new that keeps people coming to the game, then that’s brilliant. Day-night cricket is that, it brings different challenges. When you bowl, you bat, it can make a big difference. Different tactics, so it just brings a different awareness and different things you have to do,” he elaborated. Australia have played maximum day-night Tests, while India under Virat Kohli’s leadership have embraced it only in 2019 after they played their first Test under the lights against Bangladesh in Kolkata. India have agreed to play a pink-ball Test in Australia and McGrath feels it will be a challenge for the visitors Down Under. “They (India) will find tough to adjust. Australia has lot more experience and have played quite a number of day-night Tests now and that will be in their favour and home ground advantage too. Indian team is a quality team. They are experienced and Virat is a quality captain, they will be up for the challenge,” McGrath said. McGrath, who played 124 Tests, also picked top four teams for the upcoming T20 World Cup and they were hosts Australia, India, England and Pakistan. In the end he also made a cheeky comment on last year’s Cricket World Cup final where England were declared winners on the boundary count, saying “I was disappointed being a bowler and wickets should count for something.