India, Dec. 27 -- When it comes to Test matches that finish inside two or three days, the issues are multifaceted. It's a bad advertisement for cricket itself; it makes fans with tickets for the remainder of the Test unhappy, and significantly, given the logistics and preparations that go behind hosting a Test match, it becomes a financial problem for cricket boards and organisers.

With the first Test of the Ashes in Perth already having finished inside two days, the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne joined the list as England grabbed the win at the MCG in under two days. With this Test being the most significant event of the Australian sporting summer, particularly when they host England, the lost revenue from Days 3 to 5 might well be prett...