McGrath bats for 'traditional' 5-day Tests

Sydney, Jan 2  Australia great Glenn McGrath on Thursday backed the tradition of five-day Tests as the recent discussions around four-day matches have now become a talking point in the cricketing world.

The debate around four-day Test cricket has reignited after it came to the fore that the International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket committee is likely to consider four-day Test matches as being part of the World Test Championship from 2023.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Sydney Test between Australia and New Zealand, McGrath, who featured in 124 Tests for his nation, said: "I'm very much a traditionalist. I like the game the way it is."

"To me five days is very special and I'd hate to see it get any shorter. The introduction of pink Tests, day-night Tests is a great way to continue keeping our game fresh and moving forward. In respects to changing how many days its played, I'm actually against it. I like the way it is," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Australia star off-spinner Nathan Lyon had also put his weight behind five-day Tests and said: "You look at all the big games around the world and some of the best Test matches I've been part of, they go down to the last day."Lyon also said that scrapping five-day Tests would be a "ridiculous" idea.

"You look at (Australia) against India at Adelaide in 2014, that went down to the last half-an-hour on day five. Then you look at Cape Town in 2014 as well, you look at that Test match where Ryan Harris bowled Morne Morkel with two overs to go, so that's gone down to the last 10 minutes on day five. I'm not a fan of four-day Test matches," Lyon was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.