Australian cricketing great Adam Gilchrist has spoken out against the advent of day/night Test cricket.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday it was looking into day/night Tests which, if a suitable ball could be developed along with several other conditions, could lead to a Test under floodlights in 2010.
It also said the controversial umpire referral system would be rolled out in Test matches from October.
But former Test wicketkeeper Gilchrist, giving the Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on Wednesday, said: “Many of cricket’s innovations should be applied only in the shorter forms of the game.
“This not only includes the expanded umpire referral system, but especially the mooted introduction of night Test cricket and a different coloured ball needed to accommodate this.
“My personal experience nearly 15 years ago with night Sheffield Shield cricket was that it struggled because of the very different playing conditions between day and night.
“Often it made for an unfair contest, especially when batting, which always seemed much more difficult late in the evening than earlier in the afternoon.
“But all of this begs the bigger question – why play around with Test cricket at all?
“Fine tune maybe, but not fundamental changes. As someone recently said – you don’t see the London Philharmonic doing a rappers’ remix of Beethoven’s Fifth – so why should cricket do the same with its masterpiece?”
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Dave said | June 27th 2009 @ 3:44pm | Report comment
If your going to play day/night tests you need ot get the ball right
Timmuh said | June 28th 2009 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
Far more than the ball has to be right. It could only be played at certain venues, Port Elizabeth would be out because of the regular heavy dew changing conditions. Will the pitch wear the same if its not being played on as much in daylight hours, while it is in the process of drying out (it probably would, but I am no turf scientist). The lights have to be right, there is not a ground in the world that would currently be p to the stabdards required for Test cricket. The bastardised versions of the game can have all these issues, because they are totally unimportant, but this is Test cricket being talked about here and the changes have to very thoroughly trialled at first class level before being implemented at the game’s only meaningful international level.