Four-day Test experiment hampered by day-night element

In 1962, a tragic incident occurred. Two researchers decided it might be interesting to find out how an elephant behaved under the influence of LSD and, these being the 1960s, were able to find a test subject in an unfortunate beast named Tusko. Unsure of what sort of dose might be appropriate for such a creature, but figuring it would be better to shoot high than underestimate the amount and have to repeat the experiment, Tusko was injected with a Herculean shot of the psychedelic substance - around 3000 times the average human dose. He duly collapsed into a convulsing wreck and, despite the best efforts to calm his nervous system, died.

Fifty-five years on, it appears that cricket has its equivalent after Zimbabwe's horrific loss to South Africa on Wednesday (December 27). The first four-day day-night Test in history began as an experiment and ended up as a statistic. At least, there were no real casualties.

While the decision to trial four-day Tests might have been prudent in a game that was unlikely to reach a fifth day anyway, adding the day-night element