“If it means that you’re going to get full houses and you’re going to get exciting cricket then yes, I don’t have a problem with it”

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Legendary West Indies pace bowler Joel Garner is confident that day-night Tests will help revive the format as it will draw in larger crowds.

Garner’s comments come ahead of the first Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston, which will be the first day-night Test to be held in England.

Attendances at Test matches have been on the decline, but with the few day-night Tests to date having shown encouraging signs, Garner feels it could become a large part of Test cricket going forward.

“If it means that you’re going to get full houses and you’re going to get exciting cricket then yes, I don’t have a problem with it,” Garner said. “The game is moving towards what the consumer needs. It is exciting, it’s different and I welcome it.

“This is a way of saving time and getting people to come out to the cricket. You have people going to work who might be more prepared to lose half a day, rather than giving a whole day, to come and watch the cricket. That might be one of the reasons behind it.

“It’s innovative – when they first introduced day-night cricket in the seventies a lot of people weren’t with it but now they’ve got it on an ongoing basis.”

England are coming off a 3-1 win over South Africa and are favourites to beat the West Indies in their upcoming three-Test series.

However, even though the West Indies are, for the most part, a young and fairly inexperienced side, Garner believes that they are capable of giving England a run for their money.

“You come prepared to win, you don’t come to just turn up,” he said. “The whole idea is to be competitive, try and perform and try to win the Test series.

“I would say it’s young team but at the same time they are hungry for success. If they go and perform to the level that they are expected then I think we’re going to have a great series and maybe an upset.”