Andrew McDonald: 'Two-Test series should be put on the back burner'

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has called for all Test series to be a minimum of three matches in order to show a commitment to the format.

His comments came in the aftermath of the gripping 2-2 Ashes draw, which saw Australia retain the urn but England bounce back from defeats in the opening two matches.

McDonald is not a fan of the two-match series, which is the minimum requirement for those played under the World Test Championship, and is usually the maximum length for a series outside of those involving at least one of Australia, England and India.

Ashes series remain over five matches while the Border-Gavaskar contest will expand to that number when India tour Australia in 2024-25, and McDonald would like to see an additional game added to other series too.

"I'd encourage that the minimum number of Tests against a nation should be three," he said. "I think two-Test-match series should be put on the back burner and that would show the importance of Test cricket to every nation if it was a minimum of three Test matches."

Australia's next home season will feature a three-match series against Pakistan and two matches against West Indies before a tour of New Zealand that also features two Tests.

McDonald was also asked about the potential for Ashes series to be played over six Tests, as they have been at previous times in history, given that Australia and England had both played that number of games over the last two months, with respective matches against India and Ireland.

He quipped at whether England had been asked their views, referencing their stances on various issues about how the game might be played, but acknowledged scheduling would be a challenge.

"Did you ask that question to England, because they're usually the ones that are I suppose forecasting what the rules should be going forward in the laws of the game," he said. "I think a six-Test-match series, now that we've had a drawn series, it's like the two-Test series against certain nations when it ends up one-all you walk away from that thinking 'geez, what about another one'.

"I don't know where it fits, though. I think that's probably a question for [ICC's] Geoff Allardice and Wasim Khan."

When pushed to reflect on the drawn Ashes and the gripping nature of the series, McDonald acknowledged it had been fantastic viewing even though Australia had been unable to turn their 2-0 lead into a first series win in England since 2001.

"There was two contrasting styles coming in and it just shows you that you don't have to play one way in Test-match cricket. And I think that was captivating for most people on the outside," he said. "Even if it was 3-1 and we'd won that, or it was 3-1 to England, the whole way that both teams went about it - Pat [Cummins] leading our side, Ben [Stokes] leading England, the way the teams prepared and went about their work - [they] had some key decision to make in selection, it all meshed into this weird and wonderful series. It was fascinating."

The series was played to full houses throughout and though those crowds were, as would be expected, massively in favour of England, McDonald understood that the support for Test cricket could only be a good thing.

"You love seeing people line up the gates, and you get to the ground in the morning and there's just a murmur, there's a buzz," he said. "And they're keen to go and watch a Test match. To me, that's really important for the landscape of Test-match cricket.

"It was exciting, and there were a lot of English supporters who said well done and congratulations, so I think it captivated a nation. I think it captivated our nation as well, and I think that's a real positive thing for Test cricket."