ICC introduces host of changes ahead of Port Elizabeth’s four-day Test

The format was gifted an ICC status in October this year when the then ICC chief executive David Richardson had stated that the shorter format would be rolled on an experimental basis until the 2019 World Cup, and participation was not made mandatory. The main purpose of its introduction at the international level was to help sides like Ireland, Afghanistan, or even Zimbabwe, who have not been at their best of late.

The shortened format would need to accommodate the extra overs of an entire day and therefore will run for six and a half hours each day, instead of the usual six hours. Each session will last a minimum of two hours and a maximum of two and a half hours; however, the world governing body has left it to the home board to determine the hours of play and duration of the sessions.

Beyond that half-an-hour of overtime, any remaining overs cannot be carried over to the following day unless there has been a stoppage for "any reason other than normal intervals" like rain breaks, etc. Unlike a regular Test, where the last hour of play on the final day commences when it’s 75 overs, the four-day Test will see it officially commencing only when it’s 83 overs. In cases where 83 overs are bowled ahead of schedule, the calculations for the last hour will be dictated by the clock, as is done in five-day cricket.