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.
davros
Guest
yeah I took the bait and went to tune in .. ha ha I don't live in the right place , apparently . I reckon it looked like a pink supa ball too ..probably visible ok on TV...and lets face it that's all that really matters ! Had a wry chuckle this morning all the channel nine stooges/commentators labelled it a resounding success. Of course they did ! You cant blame them really , I wouldn't jearpodise a job like that ,saying what I truly thought either ! Ditto Steve Smith who obviously like's being captain of Australia ...."I reckon its easier to see the pink ball than the red ball actually ..."
Wayne
Roar Guru
SD, looked fine. Part of that other "not Australia" Australia wide cities so no HD for me. Was nice to be told if I drive 3 hours to Sydney, I could watch it in HD, or 13hrs I'll be there historically live
Rob JM
Guest
The players knew it was historic. I've never seen players so desperate to get off the mark as yesterday! Plus did Adam Voges make history by being the first player to drop a catch in a day night test (or did i miss something)?
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
.As someone who did have HD I'd have to say the ball looked pretty good. But Channel 9 made sure I knew it was in HD by telling me every five minutes. Would have been death by a thousand cuts to those watching in SD but having to listen to them rave about HD all day.
b
Guest
LOL, broadcasting in HD. LIARS!!!!! With the red ball debacle, there is a conspiracy theory. If the red balls need constant changing on hard pitches, then a soft pitch is produced for the pink ball and it lasts, the pink ball suddenly looks great, even better than the red. Was Kookaburra distracted by the pink ball, or did they intentionally lower the standard to make the pink ball look good? You missed one of the historic obsession moments. Australia's "play of the day" wasn't Starc's brilliant yorker to dismiss Williamson, it was the first delivery with a pink ball. On the whole HD thing, can anyone tell me what it looked like on HD? On sd the ball was a pink blob with no features. No seam, no wear, no shiny side, it may as well have been drawn on the screen by the commentators. While the ball was easy to see, if a little uncomfortable to look at, the lack of detail really did detract from the experience of watching test cricket. As far as I am concerned the Aussies bowled all day with a smooth, featureless, superball that looked exactly the same at the end of the day as it did at the start.