A total of 66,325 fans had attended Australia’s pink-ball Test against Pakistan by the first session of Saturday’s third day.
This crowd is the highest attendance for any match at the Gabba in a decade and illustrates day-night Test cricket has an encouraging future.
In December 2015 the first day-night cricket Test was played at the Adelaide Oval between New Zealand and Australia.
Despite crowds flocking to the match, twenty New Zealand and Australian players gave the following feedback about the pink ball after the low-scoring affair which the hosts won by three wickets.
– The pink ball did not show similar signs of wear and tear to the red ball (80 per cent).
– The pink ball swung more than the red ball (80 per cent), especially at night.
– The ball was not easy to see when batting or fielding at dusk (70 per cent), and to a lesser extent at night (50 per cent).
– The day/night conditions affected the length of the match (85 per cent).
When the pink ball doesn’t perform like a traditional red ball the characteristics of the game become significantly different, thus raising concerns about the whole concept of a night Test.
Three further night Tests have been played and scores have become higher and more consistent with daytime matches.
Pakistan made 579/3 in a day/night Test against the West Indies in October and reached 450 in the fourth innings against Australia largely dismissing the notion the pink ball is unplayable under lights. All four night Tests have produced results.
What can be done to please both parties? The players aren’t supportive, but the spectators are enchanted?
Like anything new a time of adjustment is required for it to become familiar. Cricket changed when pitches became covered. It changed when eight ball overs were reduced to six ball overs. Protective helmets allowed batsman to play with more abandon.
First class competitions should introduce day-night fixtures into their itineraries to allow players to became better equipped with playing under floodlights.
The pink ball should be subject to consistent player feedback and testing to ensure that it improves and its fair for both batsman and bowlers.
Night time hours are more convenient for spectators. Going to cricket after work is rather more appealing than listening to it on the radio at your desk all day.
More people watching at the ground creates a superior atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the game.
Night cricket allows TV networks to boost their ratings and widen the exposure of the sport.
Embrace change, because it’s better than MasterChef.
Alex
Guest
South African friends of mine, husband and wife, who travel quite a lot to watch SA play, think Australia security guards are the worst. I think it was in Melbourne (not 100% sure) they were queued at the bar and were asked to remove their sunglasses so they could see their eyes. They also complain about the no pass out policy, that was in Melbourne as well I think.
bearfax
Guest
Evenings and as much on weekends as possible. That's the ticket for test cricket.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Agreed on the security guards, they are the angriest most resentful power-hungry spuds to be found outside of the LNP in Queensland
Pie Thrower
Guest
I found the Day Night test at the Gabba brilliant. The Gabba is a fairly uncomfortable place to watch cricket during the summer as it is all concrete and there is little cross breeze. It gets hot and uncomfortable - moving hours to the night time after the sun has gone down and the sting gone out of the weather makes it a far more enjoyable spectacle... now if on ly they could do something about the obnoxious security guards who work there...
rock
Guest
The whole argument that the night session is too difficult or changes the game too much is absolute rubbish imo. The amount of limited overs cricket the players partake in nowadays where they are always subject to night (more so) & dusk conditions, I find it amusing they still treat it as a 'foreign' & difficult concept.
rock
Guest
+1
Paul D
Roar Guru
How anyone could have found Pakistan's 4th innings dreary is beyond me. The atmosphere at the Gabba was great. Yeah people were into the beers but no-one was doing anything too naughty, one bloke ran on the field day 2 but that was brief and unspectacular, crash-tackled before he got to mid off. The whole point of moving to day-night was because people weren't coming during the day - you think moving it back to daylight is going to bring more people back? Delusional.
Barto
Guest
I have no doubt that in a couple of years time no one would be arguing about the place of day/night tests in the Australian calendar. If anything, I expect to see more of them. The only test match that will probably be guaranteed to remain a purely day affair would be the Boxing day test. As for those (Mitchell Johnson specifically who slagged the concept last week) who complain that the differing conditions of a day/night test will affect stats: so what? There have been plenty of changes in the past that have changed stats and scoring rates/totals, from moving to covered pitches, the abolition of bodyline, various changes to bouncer rules, and bigger and more advanced bats. Things change, test cricket has changed, and now its time to embrace this lifeline to a once dying form of the game.
Blackfish
Roar Rookie
I found this test uninteresting as a day night fixture. Two innings of sloppy batting, a slogfest third and a dreary last. Looked like the crowd was 50% drunken hoons although the camera loved this aspect raher than the cricket. Even Smith is now converted because he had a win, saying it is here to stay, right down the CA lines. If that is the best DN cricket can offer it will not last long, and crowds will depart, unless we keep winning of course. Bring back cricket played under natures gift of radiant sunshine.
Brad
Guest
I can not believe that it is even a discussion. Who is going to take a Thursday off work to sit in front of the tv at 10 to watch cricket vs knock off work as normal get home and still watch half the day. Cricket is played on afl ground which are all capable of playing night games so apart from a few 'historic' ones like boxing day they should all be moved to day night
Arky
Guest
The day-night Tests are far better for spectators and home-viewers. Test cricket being watchable by kids and working adults alike on a weekday is HUGE. Just as sporting bodies around the world continually underestimate how much they're hurting themselves when they limit viewership of their sport to pay TV, don't underestimate how great it will be for cricket long term to have more eyeballs watching Test cricket. I don't think we've seen any statistical analysis worth the name on whether the day-night format (particularly the night sessions) actually change the game at all. All the blathering about the danger of the night session has been a complete squib. And I mean, that makes sense- has there ever been analysis from ODIs (where there is a much much much bigger pool to draw stats from) to show that it is harder for a team batting 2nd in a day-nighter than in a day game?
Abigail
Guest
There are many benefits to pink ball tests, and not just the spectacle under lights or the easier access for the public. i love the unpredictability of it. Instead of a game meandering on all day if the batsmen are on top, spectators can look forward to something exciting or match defining happening in the evening session. Either the bowlers get back into the game by running through a side as the pink ball moves more or it takes an excellent batting performance to hold the bowlers out. For too long batsmen have had every advantage with their larger bats, smaller boundaries and placid pitches. The pink ball makes the bowlers important again and it also makes test cricket a more tactical game than it has been in quite a while. I'm sure there will be very few drawn games played with the pink ball.