POLOKWANE – Test cricket, which is played during the day with a red cricket ball, is starting to change ever slightly, with the possibility of being played in the evening with the new pink cricket ball.
The first day and night test took place when Australia and New Zealand clashed last year. However, batsmen found it difficult to survive the quicker bowlers, and the fast bowlers dominated throughout the night.
The third test of the series between Australia and South Africa will be held in Adelaide from November 24 and 28, according to the 2016/17 summer fixtures released by Cricket Australia, but there is no confirmation yet on whether this will be a day and night game.
With the possibility of a number one test ranking at stake, De Villiers says a day and night game could be “fundamental change” to the itinerary.
De Villiers also raised his doubts about the pink ball and its durability in the longer format.
At the moment, we are not too keen on playing in the proposed day and night test match due to a few concerns that have come from a number of sources involved in the maiden test played last year.
“We had a meeting with Steven Smith and some of the Australian players when they toured here earlier this year, and the consensus from our talks were that there are just too many unknowns. Players from both teams were reluctant to go ahead with it.”
“The pink ball has had some issues with how it responds to 80 overs of test cricket and that is one of the key issues that we feel plays a big role in the success of the day and night test.
“The pitch also had to be ‘doctored’ to minimise the abrasive wear and tear to the pink ball, which seems to happen quicker than the red ball, and this is also an area we feel is a big factor in the run of play.”
De Villiers does not believe that a practice match could help his side adjust to the pink ball: “I don’t think it (warm-up game) will. I don’t think it’s something that you acclimatise to in one match, and the intensity of an international cricket match also brings in other factors which are hard to replicate in a warm-up match”.
South Africa fast-bowler Dale Steyn, says he is keen to play a day and night test.
“I don’t want to go through my whole career without playing a day and night game,” Steyn told cricket.com.au in Rajko .
“How cool are they? I thought it looked awesome when New Zealand and Australia played one. It looked entertaining, there was a big crowd. The ball is pink – it’s something different. You want to test your skills with that whole thing and it’s very exciting.”
Source: www.espncricinfo.com.
