While most of the cricket fraternity is at odds with the news of 4-day Tests, legendary Zimbabwe cricket Heath Streak believes that four day Tests will actually help make the game more exciting than ever before.

The logic of the former Zimbabwe captain is founded from the fact that a smaller timeframe will ensure a more risky form of cricket among the teams, which will work in favour of the underdogs.

”In terms of higher and lower ranked (teams), it is much harder to bat a team out (of the game) because in doing so you might make it harder to win the test,” Streak told reporters.

“It is a challenge, though the 98 overs in a day does make it a four-and-a-half day test. It will be interesting and exciting to be part of, hopefully it is something that does work out for the future of test cricket.”

Indeed, speaking in the same tune as the legendary bowling all-rounder, current Zimbabwe captain, Graeme Cremer, as backed Steak’s claims, saying that the pace of the game will take an upward turn.

“When the two teams aren’t ranked that close together, the game will move that much quicker, it will be good to watch,” he said.

He then went on to explain the strategy of the bigger teams and their ability to take 20 wickets in a game.

”What a lot of the so-called bigger teams do (in five-day matches) is bat the other team right out of the game because they know they have the bowlers to bowl them out twice.

“So now what I think the bigger teams will do is probably try and score a bit quicker, and give the lesser team a lot more opportunity to get wickets.”

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, however, didn’t share the same enthusiasm as the Zimbabwean duo, stating that some of the Test games have gone down the wire in the 5-days format, which is what makes the fomat “special”.

“I believe some of the great test matches have gone to the last over on day five and that is what is so special about five-day cricket,” he told reporters recently.