Embrace the darkness: what's the deal with the light rule?

One thing that I am a bit confused about after yesterday’s play at the Adelaide Oval is the light rule in Test cricket.

The umpires decide now on whether the light is too dark to play. Most of the time, these days, and as was the case yesterday, we have artificial light to supplement the natural light.

These huge lights generally come into play at the end of the day when it is getting dark, and at the end of play yesterday you could see four shadows of players as they took over from the natural light.

>>FOLLOW THE LIVE SCORES OF THE AUSTRALIA VS INDIA TEST MATCH

Sometimes these are used as a guide by the umpires when they see the shadows created by them, which may have bene the case yesterday.

Generally, there is a brief discussion on the field with the fielding side’s captain about using the fast bowlers to bowl and the umpires decide whether to cease play or not. More often than not they go off and play ceases for the day.

My question to consider for all lovers of Test cricket is how is it possible then to ever play cricket at night under the artificial lights with fast bowlers?

Surely if it is okay to play under artificial light at night in one day and Twenty20 fixtures with fast bowlers hurling the ball down at the same speeds, we can play with artificial light during the day with fast bowlers! How big a difference can the red ball make?

I still think Test cricket needs to be given a higher priority and playing for the full five days is a real test of an international cricketer’s strength and endurance.