Test matches are getting shorter, but five days still matter
Fewer than half of Tests in the 2020s reach day five. The numbers show a faster format, not a simple case for four-day Tests.
Key points
- Only 41.43% of Tests in the 2020s have reached day five, down from 77.65% in the 1970s.
- The 2023–25 WTC cycle averaged about 273 overs per Test, against 324.4 in the six seasons before the WTC.
- Modern Tests combine faster scoring with wickets arriving more often.
- The share of Tests ending in two or three days has risen from 2.79% in the 1970s to 23.11% in the 2020s.
- The four draws in the 2023–25 WTC cycle lost more than 300 overs to rain — exactly the kind of disruption a fifth day can absorb.