South Africa to trial 4-day test vs. Zimbabwe in December

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:01 p.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG (AP) South Africa plans to trial a four-day test against Zimbabwe in December, although the International Cricket Council is yet to grant the game full status.

Cricket South Africa says its annual Boxing Day test will be played over four days, not five, and also be a day-night match using newly installed floodlights at St. George's Park in Port Elizabeth.

The ICC has indicated it is open to the possibility of four-day tests being trialed. Cricket's governing body is expected to decide at a board meeting next month if the Dec. 26 game is granted full test status.

Last year, a number of countries, including South Africa, said they were in favor of trying out four-day tests. England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison also spoke in favor of four-day tests this year.

Like day-night tests, the four-day experiment is aimed at refreshing cricket's longest format and increasing attendances at stadiums, and interest for television viewers. The popularity of limited-overs cricket, and especially Twenty20 games, has been seen as a threat to tests in a crowded international calendar.