The pink ball - seen here with New Zealand's Matt Henry in Perth - is a symbol of the start of day-night test cricket. PHOTO: AFP
South Africa overcame their reservations this week and agreed to play a day-night pink ball Test against Australia in Adelaide in November, while Pakistan are scheduled to experience the new concept in Brisbane in December.
Australian Cricketers’ Association chief Alistair Nicholson said he had stressed to Cricket Australia (CA) the need for significant work to get the revolutionary format right after last year’s inaugural day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand finished inside three days.
Australia pushing for two day-night Ashes Tests
Players from both teams complained about the pink ball’s movement and durability, as well as the difficulty batsmen faced seeing it under floodlights.
“The concerns of the players run deep, and with [England captain] Alastair Cook’s comments we see they also run internationally,” said Nicholson in a statement.
Cook said on Wednesday there was no need for day-night Tests to be introduced for the next Ashes series in Australia in 2017-18.
South Africa agree to day-night Australia Test
“A lot of the games have really good attendances, so I don’t think that’s a series where you need to do it at this precise moment in time,” Cook said in London.
Nicholson said when the best players in the world were all expressing concerns, they must be listened to and have them addressed.
“The message from players all over the world is clear: ‘We want the best quality test cricket. To achieve this there is a lot of work to be done on the pink ball format,’” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2016.
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ