Is Twenty20 Test cricket's unlikely salvation?

On the third of March 1939 exactly 42 years before the birth of this author a Test match started between South Africa and England at Durban.

South Africa were put in to bat and PGV van der Bijl walked off the pitch that day - the first of a nine-day Test - with a century. This was recorded as the longest Test match ever.

Things have moved on since then and the International Cricket Council has put limits on the length of a Test. Beyond that Kerry Packer enforced a change in the game with his World Series which resulted in the one-day format.

The shorter version has brought its thrills of course, fans have witnessed the exploits of Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Andy Flower and others as they exploited this shorter version of the game.