Scrap draws from Test cricket: Lara

Legendary batsman Brian Lara believes Test cricket should scrap draws in order to add to the excitement of the game's longest format.

Lara, the only player in Test history to have posted a quadruple-century, said the five-day game needed to continue evolving in order to be relevant and attractive to contemporary audiences, while also bringing in new markets.

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"One of the complaints by an American is, 'how can you play a game for five days and it ends up in a draw?'," Lara told the BBC.

"I would like to maybe see results in every single Test match.

"I know 70 per cent of the time the game takes its natural course and you get a result, (but) maybe find a way where you structure the game … you have 450 overs in five days, come up with some formula that can bring a win at the end of it."

The West Indian retired from the international game in 2007, just as the Twenty20 revolution was gathering steam, and is a supporter of the short format, largely due to its appeal to new audiences.

"I'm pro T20, because I played in a period where Test cricket was waning, the crowds were a bit smaller, and I grew up in the '70s and '80s, lining up at 5am to watch a Test match in a packed house," Lara said.

"T20 has brought a new spectator in.

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"I'm happy (with it) – it's three hours, well put together, and it's a game that has to grow in other countries, in America, in big countries … I believe (it's) a product we can take around the place.

"So I'm a big fan, but at the end of the day, my career was based around Test cricket and I'm very, very happy it was that way."

Ironically, it's Lara's native West Indies that has suffered most as a Test side in the face of T20 cricket's popularity, with a number of the Caribbean archipelago's star performers choosing to pursue the riches of lucrative domestic 20-over competitions ahead of continuing their international team's proud tradition in the five-day game – a narrative muddied by never-ending disputes between players and the West Indies Cricket Board.

West Indies have also won two of the past three World T20 tournaments, and are the only team to win the ICC's global showpiece for the shortest format on more than one occasion.