Why former England captain Michael Vaughan is pushing for four-day Test cricket

Former England captain Michael Vaughan firmly believes that now is the time for Test cricket to become a four-day event instead of the current five.

While traditionalists might scoff at more change being implemented into a game steeped in tradition, the statistics back up Vaughan’s point.

Of the last 50 Tests in international cricket, just three have been draws - with those all heavily rain-impacted, while two-thirds of those Tests finished on Day 4 or earlier.

Between 2020 and 2024, three-day Tests or fewer have also risen to 21 per cent, up from 14 per cent in the previous decade before that.

Vaughan thinks that reducing Tests to four days would continue to bring more excitement as the game continues to speed up, while he also thinks that the fifth day which is often unnecessary is also costing the game, broadcasters and grounds far too much money.

He also believes that four-day Tests would be easier to schedule in a cricket calendar that seems to add more T20 cricket in particular year on year.

“We've got players that are incredibly entertaining now,” Vaughan told SEN Afternoons.

“I'd start on a Thursday and finish on a Sunday. 

“I believe four-day cricket would be easier to schedule. It'd be easy for everyone to understand that Test match, cricket starts every Thursday when we're playing the Test match game and it finishes on a Sunday... if it makes it to Sunday.

“Let's be honest, the way that the players go out and play their business now, they don't play like I used to play or some of the teams back in the 80s and 90s played.

“They’re playing a brand of cricket which is pretty much to try and win as quick as they possibly can and put the opposition under pressure. 

“So, I genuinely believe that the administrators around the world need to seriously consider if it’s time to go from five (days) to four.

England played Ireland in a standalone four-day Tests match at Lord’s in 2023. That match finished in the final session on Day 3.

Listen to Vaughan make his full case for four-day Tests with Tom Morris below.