Warne wants four-day Tests

Australian leg-spinning legend Shane Warne has added his voice to those former greats of the game advocating an overhaul to Test cricket, saying the time has come to reduce the longest form of the game to four days, and calling for an end to the coin toss.

In a week where former Australian captains Mark Taylor and Greg Chappell called for four-day Tests to be considered, Warne told Melbourne radio station SEN that the upcoming historic day-night pink ball Test in Adelaide could be just the start of a Test revolution. 

"I reckon it's time for four-day Test cricket," Warne said. 

"I would make it four-day Test cricket, 100 overs a day, I'd have two half-hour breaks rather than a 40-minute lunch break and a 20-minute tea break, (and) I'd extend it by about half an hour to get those 100 overs in. I think that's going to be more appealing for people and it's worth a try.

"The day-night Test match is fantastic. It's worth a go, and I don't like to hear that people are trying to pick out the little pieces in it before it has even happened. Let's see how it goes." 

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Warne also called for the abolition of the coin toss and pitches that offered more to bowlers, believing the spectacle could be improved if the visiting team in every Test series could decide whether they would bat or bowl first upon inspection of the pitch. 

"The other thing I'd change is no toss of the coin," he said. 

"The away team – New Zealand choose tomorrow morning at 10.30 if they want to bat or bowl.

"A good pitch is not a flat pitch and 500 (runs) – a good pitch is when the captains walk out to toss the coin and they're not sure if they should bat or bowl, and the first session or so is tough work for the batsmen. 

"We want to see some exciting cricket. If we're not playing exciting Test match cricket and having a contest between bat and ball, the great game of Test cricket will die very, very quickly."