Test cricket is an anomaly in the modern world; after 30 hours of scheduled play you can still end with a draw. Of late, though, it has been under immense pressure to cut some flab, especially from the broadcasters who practically finance the game.The proposal is to bring it down to four days, allowing them to schedule it to start on Thursday and finish on the weekend. The MCC world cricket committee recognised the pressure on the format in its meeting in Mumbai, but it finished split down the middle when it came to removing a day from Tests.Two of the cricketers on the committee, Ricky Ponting and Ramiz Raja, were personally in favour of keeping the format as it is but they recognised the need for changes. We have had two days of meetings, and to be fair we spent more time as a committee debating this four-day comparison to five-day Test cricket, Ponting said.It is pretty fair to say that the committee was probably split right down the middle as far as understanding and identifying that the Test game does need some changes. Things have to change to try and make the Test game more attractive but also we are trying to protect the fabric of Test match cricket.Personally, I am very much in favour of five-day Test cricket and we only have to look back at the last 12-18 months and see how many great five-day Test matches there have been. But other guys in the committee would also like to see a trial of four-day Test cricket.Raja acknowledged he saw the benefits of a shorter Test format, but still favoured the existing model. It is a difficult debating point, he said. One big advantage with a four-day Test match is that it improves the pace of Test cricket, and there will be exciting declarations and something out of the ordinary, which may give new lease of life to Test cricket.But my biggest grief was that the lesser teams would get away with murder, they would be able to draw a game and in Test matches the best teams should win all the time, so that limited that possibility. Four-day cricket is exciting, it gives ample opportunity to broadcasters to get the peak days…end it on Saturday or Sunday, which could be great watching.But I was also in favour of five-day cricket because it has a lot of history, it is traditional and we should not tamper with a format, which has been delivering the goods. In the last year and a half, we have seen some exciting cricket.Ponting touched upon possible complications that might arise from the pressure on the pitches to deliver outright results.If we ever go to a stage where four-day Test was the way we are going, a lot of it will be down to how the wickets are prepared, he said. The one thing we dont want is more draws. No one wants to see more drawn games. We want to see entertaining Test matches be it over four or five days.Thats what we have seen of late. Very aggressive cricket when needed, very defensive when needed as well. One of the pros for four-day Tests is every Test potentially starting on Thursday and finishing on Sunday. Maybe it frees up a few more days in the international schedule. But I am all for keeping it as it is. Its the way I learned playing the game. Its the game we all enjoy playing over five days.In its press release, the MCC cricket committee outlined what they considered the pros and cons of the four-day Test debateProsClear scheduling for all stakeholders (TV, fans, players), with every Test played Thursday to Sunday on a weekly cycle.Greater crowds likely in grounds and more viewers on television for the last two days of the matches.Given that the Boards want guaranteed cricket on both days of a weekend, ideally towards the end of the game, this model makes scheduling easier and will allow tours to be shorter.Shorter tours would mean that less cricket would need to take place out of each countrys regular season, meaning fewer rain interruptions.Players would have to speed up the over rates, with suspensions for captains not meeting the required targets (though DRS does slow things down). Spinners might need to be bowled more.Play would be likely to change to a more attacking style, which might help to arrest the dwindling crowds in many countries.Clearer scheduling for grounds in relation to staffing and operational costs, with most Tests running the full four days.Broadcasters need only to pay for four days match costs, rather than five, plus their schedules are more freed up for more lucrative limited overs cricket.Evidence suggests that there would be no loss of revenue from broadcasters or sponsors if the Tests were shortened.ConsLikelihood of more drawn matches, especially those that are rain-affected, given that some matches are played in the rainy season.The dynamic of Tests would change and the statistics would be less comparable with history, particularly if limits were placed on the duration of the teams first innings, which has been mooted.There could be more doctored pitches to get results within four days, particularly if allied to increased context.It should not need a shift to four-day Tests to speed up the over rates. Many sides struggle to bowl 90 overs in six and a half hours, so it is unrealistic to think they would bowl many more in a longer day. Any additional overs are likely to be bowled by part-time bowlers.It might lead to more manufactured games, with declaration bowling and cheap runs on offer.The better team would have less chance of winning; the weaker team would have more chance of escaping with a draw.With people increasingly more time-poor, it is unrealistic to expect spectators to want to see even longer days at a Test match. Air Max 95 Italia . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Air Max 95 Miglior Prezzo . 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After the blissful whirlwind of a second Melbourne Cup and the arrival of his fourth child jockey Kerrin McEvoy has slotted back into Sydney racing without missing a beat.Almandins victory put a second Cup on the 36-year-olds mantelpiece 16 years after Brew thrust him into the limelight.Eight days after his heroics in Australias great race, his wife Cathy gave birth to their first daughter Eva-Mae.We havent had a heap of time to sit down and really look back on it all, McEvoy told AAP.Weve just been trying to get the newborn settled and into a routine which were getting on top of now.That has coincided with McEvoy returning from the pinnacle of Australian racing to the regular working week of one of Sydneys finest jockeys.You still have to pinch yourself to think that youve won a Melbourne Cup again, McEvoy said.There has been no sign of a Cup hangover.McEvoy has booted home 10 winners since winning the worlds richest handicap including Group Three victories on Spright and Aspect as well as the Listed Sandown Cup aboard Qewy.He underscored his form with a winning double at Canterbury on Wednesday, his second metropolitan brace since returniing to Sydney.ddddddddddddMcEvoy will be out for more success at Rosehill on Saturday with key rides aboard Religify in the Group Three Festival Stakes (1500m) and Princefamous in the Listed Starlight Stakes.Chris Waller-trained gelding Religify rewarded punters who remained loyal after two defeats as favourite when McEvoy rode him to win the November Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill on November 19.Hes a horse that makes his own luck, McEvoy said.Youve got Rageese and Hazzabeel up from Melbourne, a couple of other locals that weve seen plenty of times.So its a good quality race and he seems to be in good form.On the same day Religify won, McEvoy got Princefamous home and he sticks with him in the Starlight where the horse drops to 54kg.It strikes a chord with me that hes in with a light weight on his back, McEvoy said.Hes going to be up there making his own luck hell be looking the winner at some stage.McEvoy will also be on early favourite Falkenberg in the Listed ATC Cup (2000m) for trainers Peter and Paul Snowden. 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