Cricket Australia remains confident that a day-night Test against New
Zealand in November 2015 will be feasible despite mixed reviews from
players and coaches after a trial in last week's Sheffield Shield
matches. Pink balls were used in games at the Gabba, Adelaide Oval and
the MCG and while some positive feedback was received from players and
fans, others voiced concerns over visibility and the quality of the
balls.
Queensland batsman Chris Lynn said he struggled to see the white seam on
the pink ball, which made it hard to pick swing and spin from the
bowler's hand, and Victoria's captain Matthew Wade said he could not see
day-night Test cricket happening quickly. The Victoria coach Greg
Shipperd said from the rooms he found the ball difficult to see and it
went too soft too soon, and the pink colour could scrape off the surface
of the ball, leaving dark patches.
But Cricket Australia's general manager of cricket operations, Sean
Cary, said he was confident that further work on developing the pink
ball would allow Australia to host New Zealand for a historic day-night
Test in 2015-16. He said Cricket Australia staff had surveyed fans at
all three venues and found that there were some visibility issues at the
Gabba, but the Adelaide Oval and MCG had been more successful.
"The fans were really excited in both Adelaide and Melbourne," Cary told ABC Grandstand
on Saturday. "We had some mixed views from the Gabba. I'm not sure if
the lighting at the Gabba is slightly different to Adelaide Oval and the
MCG. Some of the fans, and I was one of those on one of the nights up
there, actually found it a bit more difficult to pick the ball up from
the stands. But from the MCG and Adelaide Oval the pink ball shone out
beautifully.
"The fact that we had two matches go pretty much to the death-knock with
very exciting finishes, batsmen scoring centuries, spinners taking
wickets and fast bowlers taking wickets, we believe we created a
balanced approach … we certainly had balls wearing differently across
the three venues and pleasingly none of the balls fell apart."
Adelaide Oval looms as the most likely venue for the inaugural day-night
Test, with the MCG and SCG not considered due to their traditional
Boxing Day and New Year's matches, while the WACA would be unlikely
given it is already in a time-zone that suits the broadcasters for
eastern states prime time viewing. Hobart is another option and Cary
said further trials next summer would include a match at Bellerive Oval.
"We'll have feedback for Kookaburra and hopefully they can continue to
work on that pink ball and by November 2015 we should have a product
that's ready for international cricket," he said. "We're certainly
working towards that. Our friends across the ditch in New Zealand are
very keen for every opportunity to create a day-night Test match.
"We'll have another opportunity in the summer of 2014-15 to continue the
trial. Hopefully we'll be able to schedule it in the early rounds, in
November, which is when Australia is scheduled to play New Zealand in
the 2015 three-Test match series.
"I think our next step would be to try and get a day-night Shield match
down in Hobart to see how that goes, and look at the Gabba and Adelaide
Oval again ... Having just been to the three venues, I really found it a
pleasant experience at both the MCG and Adelaide Oval.
"It was difficult to pick the pink ball up in Brisbane, it actually
looked a little bit more orange than it did pink in Brisbane. So at this
stage Adelaide Oval would be a great venue, but there's so many
different factors that have to pass under the bridge before we decide
which ground it could be held at."