Women’s Test matches should be made a 5-day affair: Australia head coach Matthew Mott
The one-off women’s pink-ball test between India and Australia, which ended in a draw with the tourists at the top, has reignited the debate over whether women’s tests should be held for five days to improve their results.
The Indian women topped the day and night Test and would have scored a historic win if it had been a five-day match.
On Day 4, Australia narrowly escaped a follow-on before declaring 136 runs behind India’s first-innings score of 377/8. In the second innings, India batted for 35 overs before declaring after tea, giving Australia a 272-run target in 32 overs.
Australia were 36 for two in 15 overs chasing 272 runs in the final session of the final day before players from both teams clasped hands and agreed to a draw. The inclement weather on the first two days also contributed in denying India’s victory, with 100 overs lost.
Australia’s head coach Matthew Mott has called for an extra day of play in women’s Tests following an eventful fourth day that involved a couple of sporting rulings.
“The five days for me is ideal… the last couple of Tests we’ve lost a full day of cricket, so essentially you’re playing a 3-day game on a surface that doesn’t have any wear and tear. It is difficult. If this game had gone another day, I think we would’ve seen a very good Test match,” Mott said in the post-match press conference on Sunday.
Mott also remarked that bad weather was unavoidable in Queensland at this time of year, and that everyone would have benefited from a bit longer time in the game.
“I do think, inevitably, at this time of the year in Queensland there’s a big chance of losing some time to rain. In women’s cricket we probably don’t get enough wear and tear on the wicket as our male counterparts. So it’s a bit of a different game from that perspective, the spinners can’t get as much into the footmarks,” said Australia head coach.
“A little bit more time in the game would certainly help everyone. And I think if we’re going to devote that time to it, I don’t think it is a lot to ask for one extra day,” he added.
In June, India’s one-off women’s Test against England, which was also hampered by weather, ended in a draw.
Meg Lanning, Australia’s women’s captain, said after the game that the existing system of four-day Tests for women reduces the chances of an outright victory, especially if the weather plays havoc.
“I think it probably makes sense to take it out to five days. We saw in the last two, the Test match we played against England and the one just recently with England and India that was a little bit of rain around and once that happens, it makes it pretty difficult to to get a result.
“So I think pushing out the five days makes a lot of sense and I think you will get more results and then teams pushing for that,” Lanning said.
