Cricket has a new format. Test Twenty, billed as the world’s first mixed-gender cricket tournament, was officially launched at a ceremony in Colombo on Friday night, with former Australia batter Matthew Hayden, ex-Sri Lanka cricketer Russel Arnold and well-known Indian coach Rajkumar Sharma in attendance.
Positioned as cricket’s fourth format, Test Twenty is an 80-over contest designed to be completed within a single day, sitting between five-day Test cricket and the 20-over game. Each match consists of two innings of 20 overs per side, with first-innings scores carried forward into the second. The first 40 overs are played in whites with the red ball in daylight, and the last 40 are played in colour with the white ball under the floodlights — the first time the red ball and the white ball will be used in the same match.
At the heart of the concept is the Parity Rule. Each franchise fields both a boys’ XI and a girls’ XI, and their performances combine on one scoreboard to determine the same match result and the same championship standings. Girls bowl to girls and boys bowl to boys, each XI bowls one 20-over innings, and a maximum of five bowlers can be used by each XI. No franchise can claim the championship without contributions from both squads.
The competition is designed exclusively for players aged between 13 and 21 from around the world. The inaugural season runs from November 14 to 29 at the Sinhalese Cricket Club in Colombo, featuring four continental founding franchises: South Asia, Australasia, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Each franchise has a 40-member squad comprising 20 boys and 20 girls. The ten-match season opens with Sub-Saharan Africa against Australasia, and features a six-match league stage followed by Qualifier 1, an Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and the final on November 29. Matches will be broadcast live on Sony LIV and FanCode.
Test Twenty is guided by a Board of Advisors featuring AB de Villiers, Matthew Hayden and Sir Clive Lloyd, with Rajkumar Sharma serving as Chairman of the Selection Committee. The initiative is led by founder and chairman Gaurav Bahirvani. Hayden, who will mentor the Australasia franchise, backed the concept as a platform for young cricketers to gain match experience and develop their skills.
“What makes this format particularly exciting is the opportunity it provides young cricketers to play more cricket,” Hayden said at the launch. “You don’t get better by playing less, and that’s something the game needs to address. With the current focus largely on 50-over and T20 cricket, Test Twenty offers players more opportunities and time in the middle to perform and develop their skills.”
Whether the format finds a lasting audience remains to be seen, but its opening weekend will be watched closely as cricket’s newest experiment takes the field.
https://t20star.com/asia-cup-2027-schedule-teams-format-and-everything-we-know-so-far/
