Langer's plan to fix cricket

JustinLanger-cropped

Former Australia opening batsman Justin Langer believes cricket should abolish draws from all forms of the game.

Langer made the call for a radical overhaul on Thursday after watching last week's second Test stalemate between Australia and New Zealand in Perth, which lasted the full five days.

Australia (559-9) and New Zealand (624) both made huge first inning totals at the WACA.

Langer now wants draws to be removed, including at Sheffield Shield level, with the Western Australia coach claiming fans want to see teams fighting to win.

"I like the idea of having no draws in cricket. Like a boxing fight," Langer said on Thursday.

"And there'll be some controversy about that. But there's been plenty of boxing controversies over the years as well.

"They get it right most of the time. If we take the draws out, and play a bit of day-night cricket, it's all good for the game.

"A lot of people who don't watch the game go, 'how do you play for five days and not get a result?'

"They just don't get it. Usually sport is about winning or losing, it's not about drawing."

Langer, whose WA team drew their recent Shield match with Victoria after finishing at 282-2 in their pursuit of 390, added: "In Melbourne last week, if we had 380 and we knew we had to win the game and there was going to be a result one way or another, we might have had to take a different approach to it.

"Or we might not have because we knew that overall we'd played the better cricket, besides one session. Maybe that's a way to keep lifting the game of cricket."

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