In a move which is likely to cement the future of day-night cricket in Australia in the coming years, Cricket Australia have today announced that there will be another round of pink ball Sheffield Shield matches early next year.
After the completion of the Big Bash League and a short domestic break, all teams will once again get to test the conditions of Shield cricket at night with round 7 matches to be played at Adelaide Oval, the WACA and the Gabba starting on February 14.
This will be the second round of day-night Shield cricket after the first came in the opening round of the season, during the build-up and preparation for the historic day-night Test match at Adelaide Oval against New Zealand.
Although that match only lasted three days, fans all around the world expressed their delight for international pink ball cricket with a poll on the Cricket Australia website suggesting 82 per cent of voters enjoy day-night Test cricket.
Television ratings soared throughout the Test match, as did crowd numbers (123,736 over three days) with a large number of fans exercising their newly-found ability to attend the Test match after knocking off work.
This will also be a vital testing period for the pink ball, which still requires lots of work according to a number of players.
In a player poll taken following the Adelaide Oval Test, it was found that the pink ball swung a lot more than its red counterpart, and that the ball became much harder to see as the sun began to set (according to 80 per cent of respondents).
Sheffield Shield matches have traditionally had poor attendance rates over the past decade and Cricket Australia is hoping more fans will flock to local grounds to watch their domestic sides play in a more unique fashion.
The four-day format will forever remain crucial as a key pathway for young stars to make a name for themselves in pursuit of making it to international level.
Shield matches are now free and have been for the last couple of seasons, yet attendance figures have consistently been well below par.
It is clear that Sheffield Shield cricket is creating next to no revenue for Cricket Australia, so it does beg the question, should all Shield matches be played at night – or at least half – to change things up a little bit?
The newest generation of cricket fans are being brought up on T20 Big Bash cricket, with the excitement and constant action drawing young people to newest form of the game.
Although Test cricket is still well supported, the domestic form of the game is deemed as being boring and amateurish.
That’s a sad mentality, as there are a number of talented old and young cricketers trying to make a name for themselves at Shield level – for example Michael Klinger, or Cameron Bancroft.
In my eyes Cricket Australia have two options as they look towards the future of domestic Sheffield Shield cricket. Either play more matches at night and do all they can to entice people to attend, or move games to local venues – moving away from the big arenas and more actively involving local communities.
What’s to stop Cricket Australia from holding a ballot and having local clubs apply for Shield games to take place at their clubs?
What are your thoughts? Should there be more day-night domestic cricket?
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