Test matches that lasted five days made up 77.65% of all results in the 1970s. In the 2020s, that number is 41.43%. The shift is not gradual. It is structural.
“Myself and Nass played in the 1990s, and the number of games that finished in three days or less was around about 7 per cent. And that is now 20 per cent, so that is a big difference.”
Michael Atherton, Sky Sports, during England vs Pakistan 2nd Test, Lord’s, August 2026
Atherton cited four reasons for this acceleration, speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast alongside Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik. Nine Test matches have finished inside two days in the last decade. Between 1946 and 2000, not a single Test ended in two days.
The first reason is franchise cricket. T20 leagues have trained a generation of batsmen to attack from ball one. That approach does not disappear when they put on whites. Atherton put it directly: batting is higher risk now because of T20, and more risk means more wickets, which means shorter matches.
The evidence is everywhere. England thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs inside three days at Headingley in the 1st Test. Australia demolished Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs inside two days at Mackay, with Mitchell Starc taking 10 wickets. Ben Duckett has spoken openly about how T20 shot-making has made him braver in Test cricket. He is not an exception. He is the norm.
The second reason is fast bowling quality. The current generation of pace bowlers across the world is unusually strong. Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Ollie Robinson, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, Kagiso Rabada. Robinson led England’s seam attack with a dominant display at Lord’s in the 2nd Test, where England won by 194 runs to seal the series.
Third, DRS has changed how umpires think. Before the technology existed, batsmen got the benefit of the doubt on tight LBW calls. That safety net is gone. LBW dismissals accounted for 14.09% of all wickets in the pre-DRS era. After DRS, that figure rose to 16.61%. Umpires are more willing to raise the finger because they know the review system will correct genuine mistakes. More LBWs mean more wickets per session, which compresses how long a Test lasts.
WTC Turned Pitches Into Strategy
The fourth reason is the most systemic. Since the World Test Championship began, teams have started preparing pitches not for five days of balanced cricket but for results that earn WTC points.
“Pitches have become more advantageous since the advent of the World Test Championship. Teams are generally looking to get home advantage more, so whether it’s turning pitches in India or seaming pitches in England, generally the pitches have become more bowling-friendly.”
Michael Atherton, Sky Sports, Lord’s, August 2026
India produced turning tracks that gave spinners dominance from day one. England prepared green seamers that made life difficult for batting sides from the first session. Australia’s batting order collapsed on surfaces that aided their own bowlers before offering anything to their batsmen. Moeen Ali called the Lord’s pitch “horrendous” earlier this summer. The pattern is global. Pitches are weapons now, not neutral stages.
🚨Michale Atherton reasons for Why Test matches are finish quicker. [Sky Sports]
1- Franchise Cricket (Batting Style Change)
2- Good crop of Fast Bowling.
3- DRS Technology.
4- Since the inception of the WTC, pitches are prepared to offer the advantage of home conditions. pic.twitter.com/NqLODNivJW
— Indian Cricket 🏏 (@Indiancric1cm) August 31, 2026
Insider Read
The shift Atherton describes is not just statistical. It is a change in what batting means at Test level. In the 1990s, an opening batsman’s first job was survival. The first hour was about occupying the crease, watching the ball, leaving anything you did not need to play. You valued your wicket because the team’s innings depended on your patience. The entire structure of a batting order was built on the idea that the top three would absorb pressure so the middle order could score.
That contract no longer exists. Franchise cricket taught batsmen that scoring is the priority in every format. When you spend six months a year in T20 leagues being rewarded for attacking from ball one, the instinct to defend first erodes. It is not a technique problem. It is an intent problem. The batsmen are technically capable of occupying the crease. They just do not want to. Ajinkya Rahane warned that Test cricket may not survive if this trend continues. He is right to worry.
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