Australian skipper pleads for five-day Tests for women
THE odds were against a result for either team before a ball was bowled in the drawn Test between Australia and India, as calls grew louder for a move to five-day games.
In the aftermath of the early finish to the day-night Test on the Gold Coast on Sunday, both Australian captain Meg Lanning and coach Matthew Mott said one more day of play would have garnered a result.
The match was the ninth women’s Test played over the past decade and the past four have all ended in draws.
Rain interrupted the opening two days, robbing the game of significant overs. But the game was already not long enough, according to one long-time cricket statistician. Based on average runs per wicket in women’s Test matches since 2000, renowned stats man Ric Finlay said the match, which was scheduled to have 100 overs for each of the four days, was always going to be “30 overs short”.
“In Aus since 2000, wickets in women‘s Tests have been taken at the rate of 64.44 balls per wicket. If you want a 40-wicket Test, then that requires 2578 balls – but at 600 a day for 4 days, we are 30 overs short – we need 4.3 days,” Finlay posted on Twitter. The captains shook hands at the drinks break in the final session on Sunday night after first Australia, then India, declared their respective innings over early to try to manufacture a result.
But with Australia set
Australian coach Matthew Mott said there were enough factors in the game which almost demanded a move from fourday matches to five, in line with men’s games.
“The last couple of Tests we’ve lost a full day of cricket, so you’re essentially playing a three-day game on a surface that doesn’t have any wear and tear,” he said.
“If this game had gone another day, I think you would have seen a very good Test match.”