CAPE TOWN: Cricket South Africa (CSA) issued a one-paragraph statement on Tuesday stating it was official policy to support four-day Test match cricket.

But the statement appeared to surprise both the acting chief executive of CSA and the chief executive of the South African Cricketers’ Association.

The full statement by CSA read: “In view of an unsourced and misleading report in the media this morning please be advised that it is Cricket South Africa’s official policy to support four-day Test match cricket. We, in fact, hosted the first official four-day Test match between ourselves and Zimbabwe a couple of years ago.”

Asked to elaborate, a spokesman for CSA said he was not aware whether CSA had taken a formal decision to support a suggestion that World Test Championship should consist of four-day matches from 2023.

The statement was made in response to an article in the London Daily Mail which claimed South Africa was opposed to four-day Tests.

Jacques Faul, the acting chief executive of CSA, said he believed all stake-holders needed to be consulted before an official position was taken.

Andrew Breetzke, chief executive of the SA Cricketers’ Association, said SACA aligned itself with the position of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2020