EXPLAINED: Why Sri Lanka-New Zealand Galle Test will have a rest day?

The first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle, starting September 18, will have a rest day to accommodate presidential elections in the country on September 21, which would have been the fourth day of the Test. As a result, six days have been allocated for the Test. The two Tests will be part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. 

This is the first time since 2008 that a rest day has been thrown into a Test. On that occasion too, a rest day was given when there were parliamentary elections in Bangladesh when Sri Lanka toured the country. However, Sri Lanka has not witnessed a rest day in Test matches since 2001, when they played Zimbabwe in Colombo. 

On that occasion, it was due to the occurrence of a full moon, which was a public holiday in the country where the majority of the population are Buddhists.

Were rest days the norm initially?

Rest days were not uncommon, especially until the 1980s, when the players would take a break for a day, largely on Sundays, and continue from where they left off. When Test cricket began, there were plenty of timeless Tests, which meant that the match would go on until one team won outright or both captains decided to call it a draw. 

However, South Africa and England could not be separated even after 10 days of playing in 1939 in Durban — a game that had two rest days. Similarly, the Jamaica Test between England and West Indies in 1930, too, had no winners after nine gruelling days. 

Just a year before that, Australia beat England by five wickets at MCG on the eighth day.

Has it happened recently?

In fact, recently, in the 2021 WTC final between India and New Zealand in Southampton, the Blackcaps won the game on the sixth day. How so? According to the playing conditions, an extra day was pre-decided in case rain washed away the entire day. The fourth day of the Test was washed out, which allowed the Blackcaps to win the inaugural edition of the WTC.

New Zealand's busy 2024

New Zealand will go into the series against Sri Lanka after playing a one-off Test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida. The last time the Blackcaps visited the island nation was in 2019 when the Test series ended 1-1. The two teams met in New Zealand last year, with the hosts winning 2-0.

New Zealand have a busy cricketing season ahead of them as they also play Tests against India and England. They will end the year with Sri Lanka coming to their shores for a white-ball tour. 

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