From 5 days to just 2: Ex-England captain explains why Tests are getting shorter

Former England captain Michael Atherton has offered insight into why Test cricket matches are now concluding much sooner than they once did. The five-day format, once unassailable, is increasingly yielding results in as few as two or three days. Atherton identified a number of factors driving this trend, including the aggressive batting style inspired by T20 cricket, the growing number of fast bowlers, the influence of the Decision Review System (DRS), and the emergence of pitches that favor bowlers more than ever before.

Atherton noted that T20 cricket has instilled a higher risk approach in batting, which in turn leads to more dismissals and shorter matches. He also attributed the influence of DRS to the faster conclusion of games, as umpires are more likely to give out players caught breaking the laws of the game. Moreover, the World Test Championship era has led to the creation of more bowler-friendly pitches, often aiming to maximize home advantage for the hosting team.

Sky Sports data corroborated Atherton's claims, revealing that only 41.43% of Tests in the 2020s lasted all five days, compared to 77.65% in the 1970s and 54.76% in the 2010s. Additionally, matches finishing in just two or three days have risen from a mere 2.79% in the 1970s to 23% in the 2020s. Atherton himself pointed to a dramatic increase in three-day finishes, noting that in the 1990s, only 7% of matches concluded in less than three days, now up to 20%.

Atherton's observations are backed by another striking statistic: from 2017 to the present, nine Test matches have been completed in just two days, a phenomenon never seen before between 1946 and 2000. The captain's analysis suggests that cricket's format is evolving rapidly, driven by a combination of modern batting tactics, bowler-friendly conditions, and technological oversight through DRS.