Australia to seek official status for Super Series

Cricket Australia will request the ICC to grant next year's Super Series official status, thus raising the stakes in the high-profile clash between the world's number one team and the best of the rest. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that James Sutherland, chief executive of Cricket Australia, and Matthew Hayden believed that the matches were important enough to merit mention in the record books.

"I see that at the moment the ICC haven't given the matches official Test status or one-day status, " said Sutherland. "I actually don't agree with that. I think the matches are big enough and worthy enough of having official status so that they do go in the record books. That's something that we'll certainly be talking to the ICC about into the future so they can re-address that issue."

Hayden was just as enthusiastic about the high-profile series, and said that the Australians would take the competition seriously. He too wanted to see the series made official. "I'd prefer to see it as Test-match status," he said. "It's a genuine, best-of-the-era side versus what has been a really great side in the Australian cricket team. It's unique in that we've never come across a tournament like this in the past. It certainly begs to be a great competition."

While he was eager to take on the rest of the world, Hayden believed that the six-day Test could be the start of a new wave of timeless Tests, because sometimes, five days just weren't enough. The Sydney Test against India last January was a case in point. Fox Sports quoted him as saying: "I know it's a lot of cricket and a massive ask, but there are just some things you can't get a result out of. That wicket last time at the SCG in particular was an absolute belter. It tended to be more of a bat-a-thon than anything, so it would have been good to see that played out over time."

The bat-a-thon Hayden was referring to resulted in 1747 runs scored over five days, at an average of 350 runs a day, for the loss of only 25 wickets. But while Hayden believes that it would result in more decisive matches, timeless Tests are an unlikely proposition because of commercial considerations and broadcasting limitations. Incidentally, the last was played between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939, and it dragged on for 10 days. Well-placed at 654 for 5, England needed only 42 runs for victory. However, they were thwarted by the fact that they had to catch a ship back home on the eleventh day.