So we’re at stumps at the end of the first day’s play in the historic day-night Test match. We’ve heard all about the pink ball and how much it’s going to swing at night and how captains might make bold declarations and so on.
But most importantly we’ve heard from the Channel Nine commentary how this is an historic Test and an historic occasion. Mark Nicholas told us before play how historic it was and Tubby, Heals and Slats reminded us throughout play that such a big crowd came in for this historic Test match.
There were montages of years gone by in the tea and dinner breaks with Warney’s voiceover reminding us that this was a historic occasion up there with the endless replays of the historic moment that world series cricket began.
This is also a historic Test match because it’s the first time that Channel Nine are broadcasting in HD. Never mind that sport has been in HD for a long time on other channels and on pay TV, Nine had to remind us again and again that we are watching in HD for this historic occasion. I didn’t mind hearing it over and over again that I was watching this historic Test in HD, because I was. I feel for the many people around the country being told they were watching this historic Test in HD who were really watching it in standard definition because Nine only rolled it out to half the country.
It was also an historic occasion because we are using the pink ball for the first time. It’s actually historic not because its the first time we’re using a pink ball in Test match cricket, but because it’s the first time we haven’t been swapping the ball every 20 overs this summer. Kookaburra were so focused on getting the pink ball right for this historic Test match that they forgot to produce decent red balls for the non-historic Test matches in Brisbane and Perth.
So what about the day’s play in this historic Test match? Well the Kiwi’s won the toss which is another historic moment this summer, and then batted and got rolled for 200 with the historic pink ball not really doing much at all. We had the historic first ball from Mitch Starc and then the historic first wicket from Josh Hazlewood. Peter Nevill took the historic first catch and Kiwi batsmen Tom Latham got the first historic 50.
There was the first substitute fieldsman who wasn’t that historic because I can’t remember his name, who came on when Mitch Starc suffered the historic first injury in day-night Tests. Thankfully Australia were only two down at stumps which saved Shaun Marsh from being the first batsmen to make a historic duck in day-night Tests.
But there was only one truly historic moment in this day. The first century in day-night Test cricket. Not struck by Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Dave Warner or Steve Smith. It was by the Channel Nine commentary team, for their overuse of the word historic.
I like day-night Test cricket and it’s here to stay but thank God this is the only time it will be historic.
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