Cricketers will give honest opinion about the future of Test cricket, opines Mike Gatting

After several current and former playing giving opinions about the proposed Four-Day Test matches, legendary English player Mike Gatting feels that it’s better to listen to the players before making any change in the traditional format of the game.

“I sincerely believe they should listen to the players. They will give you an honest opinion about that. And you know, there is no harm in listening but I have my views which I'd like to keep to myself at the moment. I do believe yes, we will talk about it, but if we're going to change it for making the game better, then it’s fine, but I'm not sure,” said Gatting to the Sportstar during his recent visit to India.

The Brit stressed on the fact that five days are needed to complete a Test, as seen in the recently concluded series between South Africa and England. Moreover, he added that the possibility of rain might also rob a few hours or a full day, which all sums up to the matter.

“As we've seen over this Test series against South Africa -- where matches have gone on till the fifth day. You do need five days. If it rains and you lose a day, but if you didn't have the fifth day, the match would be a draw. So there are lots of things,” added the former cricket player.

When asked about how cricket can be made popular in the future, Gatting was quick to respond that the only way was to introduce it in the Olympics.

I hope something like the Olympics will help that. I feel getting cricket into the Olympics is important. But the more of these (academies), we can put in different parts of the world. With that, the real adage of being a better person as well comes true. It's not just about being a great sportsman, it’s about being a better person. And you know that to me is as important as anything,” said Mike Gatting.