CA will be pushing the ICC to take over the “running” of night cricket trials for the exact reason I mentioned above: this is a global thing, not just Asutralia, not just England.

And also that Channel 9 conducted pink ball trials before and after the ODI in Melbourne on Sunday. Wonder if their opinion on how it picks up on telly differs from what I expressed in this column??

You see similar differences in English grounds (north and south), and also in South Africa (sea-level and up on the veldt), but the subcontinental decks tends to be rather lifeless, such as what we’re seeing in Nagpur currently..

………You’ve taken it too far this time Glen!!

Great news about the tri-series, i’ve watched most matches this season but must admit i’ve been left quite confused due to the roster of the touring teams.

Just on the other topics…..

Brett i completely agree with you on the Afrdi situation, such a small penalty for such an obvious attempt at cheating is a joke, if there were a time to make an example against ball tamperers it should have been then.

I must admit i was unaware of the next T20 world cup in the Carribean, just hadnt even thought about it being so soon since the last one (even the speed they put together the first one took me by surprise). It is and international cash-cow and because this (as anouther roarer pointed out) you cant help but feel the greedy hands clambering to get their own stake in it. There is too much already, but to completely cut international T20 is not the way to go. With all respect someone like David Warner is a T20 specialist and performs much better in this form of the game than the other two, he is actually probobly one of the best in the world at that format, i wouldnt like to deny someone in his position a chance to represent their country. I think two internationals a summer would be fair without imposing on the other forms, after all the is going to be a demand for it.

Hard to argue with too much of this actually, particularly the Australian right to take the day off for Day 1 of a Test….

Brett and co you are right to point out that India should be trailing day-night cricket. I’ll even taking it a step further. If test cricket is so unpopular and dreary for the Sub-continent, well then lets drop the futures tour program and they can drop out of Test Cricket all together. I don’t think anyone would lose to much sleep over no longer playing Bangladesh, and it’s not as though Pakistan were particuarly good in the summer just gone.

Test Cricket is fine as it is, taking that day off work to attend the first day is an Australian right, not to mention waking up on Saturday’s and Sunday’s knowning that full eight hours of Cricket await. And what about Boxing Day and New’s Years Day tests, will they only be at night then too? That sound terrible.

Although India still rates for me as one of the four traditionally important touring teams, if they aren’t interested in playing then fine, lets get England, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies touring as often as possible. Maybe then some other nations could even be given a shot (unlikely though)? Let’s keep test cricket it how it is, and if they aren’t interested then fine, we’ll play in our corner and they can play in theirs…

Finally I hear that there are plans to reinstall the tri-series and that next summer we are going to commence with T20 and ODI’s against Sri Lanka before playing England. Does anyone else miss the days when the summer was regimented and we all knew what to expect? Shield Cricket, Tests, ODI’s and then Shield final. If Cricket Australia must promote the start of the summer then hold some sort of ODI Shield tournament in October/November a la the Big Bash (this might reinvigorate one day cricket) or that All Stars game is fine. It’s confusing enough trying to work out who is touring in the summer without five teams coming between October and March.

But that all said, my main beef is the petty punishment, more than Afridi himself. I mean, seriously, two T20Is?!?

Ball tampering has been around since Abraham opened the bowling for Ur. Are you trying to tell me no one rubs sun cream on the ball? Have you ever wondered why big dollops of zinc cream is so popular with fast bowlers?

After yesterdays game against the Windies, the bore fest that is one day cricket is finally fading fast. Someone please read it the last rites. Anyone that doesn’t think T20 is going to be the no. 1 cricket game hasn’t been to a match yet. It’s like baseball on steriods and the sportsfans go beserk. It could even crack the American market.

No need to worry about being labelled a stick in the the mud, and you certainly won’t be the last to express concern about moves to night cricket. In truth, I think most of us are traditionalists at heart, and thus any moves to tinker with Test cricket is seen as sacrilege.

I’m certainly in this camp too, but I’ve become a lot more open-mided about these things. I wasn’t a fan of T20 at all when it first came around, but I’ve come to enjoy it now for what it is, not what it wants to be.

Likewise, while I’m generally against the notion of d/n Tests, I think it’s still worth the trial, and I can see the potential benefits to be had. But as I said above, it shouldn’t be Australia and England driving the trials. Why isn’t the BCCI leading the charge, and paying SG to develop a new ball? Simple, they’re too busy counting their T20 riches and don’t care for Tests.

At the end of the last Ashes series, the Eds asked me to write a column looking at some ways in which Test cricket could be improved. In the end, I coun’t see the need for major change, but rather thought and argued that more benefit could be gained from simple little tweaks, namely:
i. over rates;
ii. pitch preparation, and
iii. umpiring.

I won’t rehash these arguements again (it’s all at http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/08/25/what-can-be-done-to-keep-test-cricket-alive/), but my point was much could be achieved without changing the very fabric or the foundations of the game. These points are still valid now, and will continue to be for a while yet.

On Clarke briefly, I thought he had a really good night on Friday too. Under all sorts of presure to even just hold his spot, he batted in exactly the right place at No.3, and played his natural game perfectly, and became the perfect foil for the strokemakers at the other end.

More importantly, his use of the bowlers, and his field settings were quite clever all night, and the unlikely win (after being bowled out well under par) was a fitting reward..

On a completely different tangent – I have been a critic of Michael Clarke in the past and suggested he that he did not have sufficient maturity to be captain of the Test team. I must say that I was deeply impressed with his captaincy in the T20 match v Pakistan. He pulled every right lever to win and unwinnable game and marshalled his troops admirably to pull off a memorable result.

Nope, much easier to quietly and sheepishly admit the guilt…

As for calling a cheat a bloody cheat though, well that might open up a whole other can of worms, which while being great for my page reads (!), probably doesn’t achieve anything. Plus, I’m sure we all saw a certain local wicketkeeper stand his ground yesterday when he had very little reason to…

Bugger the politcal correctness. I am all for being compassionate about where Pakistan Cricket is at present but it makes you wonder if it is not self inflicted.

The pink ball thing played out like the Y2K bug – excessively hyped to the point where after it did fizzle out, we’re all left wondering what all the fuss is about. I see since the trials too, lime green and even a return to dayglo orange have been mentioned as possible next-step alternatives.

What I didn’t say in the column, and which follows on to what I replied above to Vinay (after it passes moderation, grrrr), is that the trials are happening in the wrong countries. Test cricket is well attended in Australia and England already, so playing Tests at night in these countries really won’t change much. A full house in Sydney or at Lord’s will still be full, day or night. These trials should be happening in India, one, to see if the broadcasters like it, and two, to see if the fans like it (of course, players reactions should be gauged too, but their opinions seem inconsequential on this matter).

For what it’s worth, if this does eventually find a solution, I suspect it will involve either a yellow ball similar to that used in indoor cricket, or we’ll use a white ball with coloured pads and perhaps a flash of colour in the playing shirts…

Kersi wrote a great preview of the 1st India-South Africa Test last week that had us all excited, and after two days of steady runs I’ve already lost interest now. I read breifly that Amla has made his maiden Test double century, and well played to him, but I think we all know where this Test is heading already. I’ve seen no footage, but I’d wager the crowd is spectacularly underwhelming..

And funny you mention Ramiz Raja’s comments too: I deliberately omitted any references or perceptions of a history of Pakistani ball tampering, and yet here it is being offered now as a defence!! The cricketing world truly has gone mad..

Where did that edit button go?

It is a bit like a 45 year old dying his hair and buying a porshe to impress the girls, only the girls look at him and shake thier heads!

I am a little over the plethora of OD games and discussions about pink balls, day/night tests, referals, power-plays and metro-sexual cricketers.

Lets keep the game as it is and move forward, I feel Cricket is heading down a slippery slope through greed and it will be ruined. I have to say I no longer watch OD matches and I do believe I am allergic to 20/20 and pink balls cause night sweats.

Thankfullly the footy season is around the corner, sanity will prevail.

Night cricket is being touted as the answer to dwindling crowds and making it more accessible to time -poor spectators. These premises miss the whole point of what makes a game attractive to spectators. The context and the pitches should be the greatest concern. Obviously the member countries of the ICC cannot agree on a Test Championship model. Pitches in the subcontinent are not conducive to attractive cricket. Nagpur has seen almost 600 tedious runs in two days for the loss of 6 wickets. Two heavyweight boxers shadow boxing. Why would spectators bother watching this. Thankfully Sehwag may brighten up one session today. Nicht Tests become irrelevant if the cricket is interesting and competitive. Tom Parker has prepared three sporting pitches in Sydney over the last three seasons and we have had three gripping Test matches. Surely the administrators all over the world can see that this is the way forward. Its time the administrators stop fiddling with their balls. This is just rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic.

Ramiz Raja had this to say two days ago: ” Afridi comes from an era, a cricketing culture, where ball-tampering is considered a normal cricket activity, the done thing on flat Pakistani pitches – an art form and not a sin. It’s been a part of the Pakistan team’s standard operating procedure.”

This is a former Pakistan captain,the first ODI player given out for “obstructing the field” and a brief stint as CEO of Pak Cricket. He may as well have Ivan Milat as his Defence Attorney.