Test Match Timings: Start, Lunch, Tea and Close

Last updated: 30 September 2026

A standard day of men's Test cricket with an 11am start has six hours of scheduled play in three sessions, a 40-minute lunch and a 20-minute tea, with close of play due around 6pm. The lengths of play, lunch and tea come from the ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions (June 2025 edition), the rules in force in September 2026. The same rules set a minimum of 90 overs on every day but the last, and say when a day can be stretched or cut short. Play at the Ashes 2027 Southampton Test is scheduled to start at 11am. The Test is England v Australia at the Utilita Bowl in West End, Southampton, from Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 July 2027.

What time does a Test match start?

The home board, meaning the host country's cricket board, sets the start time of each Test. The ICC's playing conditions leave the hours of play to that board, provided every day has six hours of scheduled play. For the Ashes 2027 Southampton Test, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) lists play as scheduled to start at 11am, and the Utilita Bowl's gates open two hours before the scheduled start of England internationals.

What does a standard Test day look like?

A standard Test day with an 11am start runs in three sessions: 11am to lunch at 1pm, a 40-minute lunch, an afternoon session from 1.40pm to tea, a 20-minute tea, then an evening session to a close scheduled for around 6pm. That time is six hours of play plus 60 minutes of intervals, counted from the 11am start. The playing conditions fix how long tea lasts, not when it starts.

The clause numbers in the table refer to the playing conditions. None of the clock times is fixed: lost time can move lunch and tea, and on any day but the last, play can run up to half an hour past the scheduled close if the day's minimum overs have not been bowled.

How long are lunch and tea in Test cricket?

Lunch in men's Test cricket lasts 40 minutes and tea lasts 20 minutes, under the ICC's playing conditions. A home board can ask the ICC to change that split, with the visiting board's consent, but the two breaks must still add up to 60 minutes. On a day that starts at 11am, lunch is scheduled for 1pm to 1.40pm.

Neither break is fixed to the minute. If playing time is lost to rain or bad light, or the players leave the field outside a scheduled interval, the two umpires and both captains can agree to take lunch or tea at a different time.

How many overs are bowled in a day of Test cricket?

On every day of a Test except the last, the ICC's playing conditions keep play going until at least 90 overs are bowled (a minimum of 15 an hour) or until the scheduled close, whichever is later. Play can run up to 30 minutes past the close to reach those overs. After that, play stops at the end of the over in progress, and the missing overs are not made up later.

The last day works differently: at least 75 overs are due before the final hour of the match begins. And when more than an hour of play is lost on any day, the minimum falls by one over for every full four minutes lost. For how overs, runs and wickets are counted in the first place, see our guide to how cricket scoring works.

What happens when rain stops play in a Test?

When rain stops play in a Test, the playing conditions make up lost time on the same day where possible: outside the final hour of the match, play is extended by the time lost, up to a maximum of one hour. Time that still cannot be recovered is added to the following days, at up to 30 minutes a day.

The Utilita Bowl notes that the decision to delay or call off play belongs to the umpires, not its staff. Match tickets for the Southampton Test bought from the venue follow the venue's own weather refund terms, which are based on the number of overs played. Our Ashes 2027 tickets guide sets them out. What rain means for a hospitality booking is covered in our Ashes 2027 hospitality guide.

Can a Test match finish early?

Yes. A men's Test is set for five days, but it ends as soon as a result is reached, so the remaining days go unplayed. On any day except the last, either captain can also ask for an extra 30 minutes, at least eight overs, which the umpires may allow only if they judge it would bring a definite result that day.

That extra half hour comes on top of any time made up after rain.

What are the timings for the Ashes 2027 Southampton Test?

For the Ashes 2027 Southampton Test, the first men's Ashes Test ever staged at the Utilita Bowl, play is scheduled to start at 11am, and gates open two hours ahead of it. The Test is England v Australia, the 4th Rothesay Ashes Test, and its five days are Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 July 2027. Hospitality at the ground runs from gate opening until an hour after the close of play.

As of September 2026, the Utilita Bowl's pages give no session times for this Test, so the playing conditions set the rest of the day: six hours of scheduled play, a 40-minute lunch and a 20-minute tea. The Ashes 2027 Southampton Test hospitality page lists the five days by weekday. Travel, parking and ticket entry for the ground are covered in our Utilita Bowl venue guide.