Day-night matches are the best thing to happen to Test cricket in Australia over the past four years.
Yet not just for the reasons that were expected when this innovation was introduced in the 2015-16 summer.
Allowing Test cricket to appeal to a wider audience was the driving force behind starting pink-ball cricket.
Administrators believed the later hours of play would not only make it easier for spectators to attend the game but also push Tests into prime-time TV hours. They also felt that playing under lights with a pink ball would create a greater spectacle; that it would be more visually appealing to younger fans accustomed to the razzamatazz of T20 cricket.
What wasn’t foreseen is something that has made pink-ball Tests a delight for all cricket fans, from the Test purists to the casual followers.
That something is competitive cricket.
As a hardcore Test fan, I’ve become jaded by the number of one-sided Tests in Australia in the modern era. Matches like the first Test against Pakistan last week, which are essentially decided before their halfway point. The single greatest advantage T20 cricket has over Tests is not its condensed nature or high scoring but the frequency of tighter finishes.
That is why the day-night Tests are now my favourite fixtures on the Aussie cricketing calendar because they foster closer matches.
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
For the sake of argument I will label a competitive Test match as one that finishes with a margin of 120 runs or less, or five wickets or less.
Over the past four years, 24 Tests have been played in Australia and only four of them have fit into that competitive bracket. Three of those four competitive matches were day-night Tests.
Considering there’s been only five day-night Tests in Australia, that underlines how pink-ball matches have created more interesting cricket.
The reason for this is simple: day-night Tests have brought bowlers back into the contest in Australia.
Benign pitches and the unhelpful red Kookaburra have made Australia a paradise for Test batsmen in the modern era. The more helpful pink Kookaburra, and the juicier pitches prepared for day-night matches, has levelled the playing field.
This was evident from the very first day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide four years ago. That was one of the most engrossing Tests played in Australia over the past 20 years, with the Aussies scraping home by three wickets.
We saw some wonderful swing bowling from the likes of Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc as well as some dogged innings by Tom Latham, Steve Smith, Peter Nevill and Shaun Marsh. Fans raved about that match and not because of the time of day it was played or the visual spectacle it involved.
Instead they were delighted by the ebb and flow of the contest, having so rarely seen truly competitive Tests in Australia prior to that.
The last time Pakistan toured Australia they were thrashed at the SCG and MCG on a pair of flat, boring pitches. But in their one day-night match in Brisbane, Pakistan gave the Aussies a giant fright as they fell just 40 runs short of chasing down a massive total in the fourth innings.
These are the sorts of tight finishes that cricket fans crave. When they occur in a Test match they are all the more special, due to their infrequency. After the lopsided, uninspiring first Test at Brisbane, most cricket followers will be hoping the pink ball can work its magic in today’s day-night fixture at Adelaide.
Test cricket isn’t dying. It still has a legion of loyal fans and great support among the three most powerful cricketing nations of India, England and Australia.
But Tests needs competitive cricket and day-night matches have been a boon in that regard.
Bring on the pink ball.
James
Roar Rookie
Pink ball tests are rubbish? They create artificial interest by introducing night sessions which when complimented by new balls create unfair batting conditions. But when the Pink ball gets soft even Yasir Shah can score a century and David Warner could have scored 1000 if Tim Paine didn't declare. It's simple. Lively wickets are the key to test cricket's long term survival. Resorting to gimmicks is disappointing.
Tanmoy Kar
Roar Rookie
But the present Pink balls Test match against Pakistan have become one-sided, they are going to lose the match by an innings inside 4 days.
Zoran
Guest
“That something is competitive cricket” What gets fans interested is competitive cricket no doubt. My interest over the years have waned, especially since around 2010. Growing up I remember hanging on every ball during those odi’s against the Windies where at any moment you thought Ambrose could get a wicket here or Warney in the mid 90s. In the last ten years of domestic tests I can name on one hand where I’ve actually been excited about the play. Due to the Windies, SL and Pak falling in a heap it has resulted in many one sided matches. Add in lifeless wickets and I find it hard to get excited about one team scoring 600 and the other not being able to make half that. A lot of matches lately seem to be more about number/averages porn rather than about a griping contest. Who is averaging over 70 against Pak? Who gaf? Does it even matter For me players like Steve Waugh count. Averaging above 50 in the days of Akram and Younis and then facing Ambrose and Walsh on shocking pitches in the windies in ‘95. The runs counted and meant so much more than big runs against a County Cricket quality XI It seems that every second domestic series this decade has been a snooze.
Simon
Guest
Even amazing Adelaide... It was only amazing on the last day. The four days leading up to that were relatively dour
Micko
Roar Rookie
lol, just thought that myself.
BNE bill
Guest
3/560. This has not aged well
Mick Jeffrey
Roar Rookie
Tend to dosagree with the premise that this is a revival. Like the new stadia and women's revolution that has hit the AFL, it's really an extended sugar hit. This D/N test looks like it will be as one sided if not more so than the last, ratings have stagnated at best (Channel 7 would actually have you believe they'd get a wider audience for a Better Homes and Gardens repeat, at a fraction of production cost), crowds have dropped to levels where it wouldn't necessarily be boosted as opposed to being a daytime test (the novelty factor wearing off, the big crowd for India vs Bangladesh is easily explained through this, and the Ashes crowd which was the last D/N in Adelaide was like all other tests vs England boosted by the Barmy Army). Sure it rained a little yesterday which never helps, but I'm sure organisers on a Friday would have hoped for somewhere closer to 40000 even for Pakistan. As for attracting the after work crowd, I'll keep repeating this like a broken record by saying fewer and fewer are working traditional hours or in traditional workplaces (working from home, mobile offices, all to save money for businesses). Especially with more demanding everything be available 24/7 the crowd they want to attract to grow the fanbase (Under 25s) are needed to fill the jobs made available. In essence by going D/N instead of attracting the younger audience they've actually in effect locked them out. Sure there will be kids younger than legal employable age that will tag along, but 20 over cricket is the target format for those folks so CA won't care that much.
concerned supporter
Roar Rookie
Rohan, you say, ''The single greatest advantage T20 cricket has over Tests is not its condensed nature or high scoring but the frequency of tighter finishes.'' Agree 100 %, but the most tedious, boring cricket games are one sided T20's, eg the recent 6 T20s against Sri Lanka & Pakistan. At least with Test Cricket, the result is normally not obvious till day 4 or even day 5.
Spinosum
Roar Rookie
I think the great potential of pink ball day/night cricket will lie is its current and future of on field extreme temperatures. Joe Root was hospitalized with heat stress last England tour and this may become a common occurrence. It's also good for families after school/after work if even only to see some greats making scores to inspire a younger generation.
Bobbo7
Guest
Flat roads everywhere are killing the game in Australia. It's just boring cricket when quality players can get to 200/0 largely untroubled.
AREH
Roar Guru
Yep - the fact every opponent has had a genuine winning chance - maybe Sri Lanka aside - in pink ball tests within Aus, proves their worth for competitiveness.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Very true, although I would think there is also a case for encouraging a better balance generally with bat and ball for the non day-night matches, through more grass on the pitches and perhaps adoption of the Dukes ball in Australia. This Adelaide wicket looks unnecessarily dead. Day nighters are good for attendance and more competitive games, but there is something a bit hit and miss about who is batting when the wickets starts to liven up. If people are bored with one sided games they’ll at least be glad it hasn’t been like a bunch of Ashes series in the 60s which had more draws than results.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
But the article was primarily about D/N Tests providing for competitive cricket. In any event, the MCG crowds tend to tail off after Boxing Day for non-Ashes Tests. Would think the prime-time viewership would still hold true. But we won't be seeing multiple D/N Tests in a single series for a while yet as touring teams won't be agreeing to it.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Presumably because they're iconic and don't need the D/N gimmick to attract greater crowds?
Micko
Roar Rookie
That's true Paul. When you get both first innings around 300 or less, there seems to be more results and exciting games. I remember as a kid in the 90's watching heaps of horrible drawn tests at places like Adelaide Oval where both teams make over 500 in the first innings, with the poor bowlers who just toil away for nothing!
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Why not Melbourne and Sydney?
Brian
Guest
Agreed they should all be day night matches apart from Melbourne and Sydney.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yes, the night time play & pink ball aspects seem to make it a lot more even contest between bat & ball leading to more exciting games, and generally smaller winning margins. The attending crowd get a couple of hours of relief from either the direct exposure from the harsh sun, or just some of the heat that will start dissipating out of these hot concrete bowls during the night, making their live experience presumably a better one too.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Great article. Test cricket is at its best I feel when 300 is considered a par first innings score. 400 is very good, and 500 is outstanding. 500 plays 500 in the first innings almost always leads to a boring, one sided contest. With a few notable exceptions (Adelaide miracle of 2006 being the one that springs to mind).