The future of Test cricket could be heading towards a dramatic shift with reports suggesting that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is now open to the idea of introducing four-day Tests as part of the World Test Championship (WTC) from the 2027–29 cycle.
While the traditional five-day format remains intact for the 2025–27 WTC cycle, the ICC has begun exploring the potential of shortening matches to four days to make the format more accessible, especially for lower-ranked teams.
The idea was already discussed during meetings at Lord’s last week during the WTC final between South Africa and Australia and is being seen as a step toward helping smaller nations play more red-ball cricket—both in terms of quantity and quality. ICC chairman Jay Shah is understood to be among the senior voices supporting the shift.
Reportedly, the game’s purest format is being considered too demanding—not just physically and mentally for players, but financially for boards. Four-day matches, on the other hand, offer a more compact window. They allow a three-match series to be completed in under three weeks, with slightly extended daily play (98 overs per day compared to the usual 90). That means more matches can be squeezed into tighter schedules—a real benefit for boards already juggling multiple formats and limited resources.
If four-day Tests are approved for WTC 2027–29, it’s likely a two-tier model will emerge. According to reports, the “Big Three”—England, Australia, and India—will continue playing five-day Tests among themselves, with the Ashes, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and the newly christened Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy remaining untouched.
However, the rest of the WTC schedule may gradually see a transition to the shorter model, especially for series involving teams outside the top bracket. Of the 27 Test series slated for the 2025–27 WTC cycle, 17 will consist of just two matches—a structure where four-day Tests could potentially offer more room for expansion in future cycles.
The ICC knows that four-day Tests won’t be a silver bullet, and questions about result likelihoods and spectator interest will persist. But if it allows more countries to play longer series, gives red-ball cricket a wider footprint, and keeps the format alive in regions where it’s barely surviving, it may well be a move worth making.
