Few could have predicted the impact that the introduction of T20 cricket would have on cricket, from playing styles, booming TV ratings and crowd engagement to scouting out specialist players for each format of the game and numerous domestic leagues.
It’s been a true cricket revolution. Although it was seen as a bit of crash-and-bash fun by purists at the time of its introduction ten years ago, T20 has gone on to define the landscape of modern cricket.
Pink-ball day-night Test cricket has faced a similar level of skepticism from cricket administrators, but day-night Tests offered the theatrical soap opera story line of a Test played out in prime time, in cooler conditions and the bulk of play occurring in hours friendly to workers.
However, despite the promise offered by the change, things have been stalling. Each day-night Test attracts a chorus of criticism from the old guard, in addition to players voicing their discomfort about playing with the pink ball, despite having the chance to battle out some scrappy, attritional Test cricket in front of sell-out crowds instead of the ghostly empty stadiums that many Test cricketers are becoming sadly accustomed to.
Change can’t occur overnight and in the five years since the introduction of the new format almost every single Test nation has played at least one game with a pink cherry. With India recently attracting record crowds to their thrashing of Bangladesh in their inaugural experiment with Tests under lights, as well as a scattering of pink-ball Tests down under before Christmas, this is where the main Test-playing nations are at when it comes to putting Test cricket under lights.
Australia
The torch-bearers of pink-ball cricket, the Aussies brought Test cricket under lights in 2015 and have remained faithful ever since, with at least one pink-ball match each year thereafter, excluding 2018 when the touring Indian squad refused to partake. The Aussies are pushing for a pink-ball clash against India in 2020 to continue the trend, with the Adelaide Test fast becoming a regular day-night fixture.
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Bangladesh
Despite losing by an innings in their first effort, nothing will take away the historic credit Bangladesh has gained by facing off against India in the inaugural day-night Test for the two squads. New skipper Mominul Haque noted afterwards that he could see pink-ball matches become a regular part of the Tigers’ domestic leagues. This is a positive sign of player support moving forward in arguably the most cricket-mad nation.
England
Despite having played three day-night clashes, the Poms don’t appear overly keen on the idea of day-night Tests. The ECB has scrapped pink-ball matches from their cluttered domestic calendar, signalling a strong desire to keep things firmly in the daylight.
India
The future of pink-ball Test cricket depends on where the Indian conglomerate takes things. They are the biggest commercial market in the world and if the recent match-up against Bangladesh is anything to go by, the interest is strong in the sub-continent – every day of their recent clash sold out. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said: “Just imagine the frenzy if you have teams like England, South Africa and Australia playing pink-ball Tests against India. Think what the crowd will get to witness.”
New Zealand
While the Kiwis have been happy enough to go along with the twilight Test cricket idea in the past – they’ll play one in Perth against Australia next month – there doesn’t appear to be any significant plans for another foray into the pink-ball realm in the near future. India’s tour of New Zealand next year could provide an opportunity for another, but things have been tight-lipped thus far.
Pakistan
Perhaps the most enthusiastic proponent of the new format after Australia, the Pakistanis have hosted two games in Dubai. Although nothing is scheduled, the multiple green lights in the past from the PCB indicate a cautious yet open-minded approach to day-night games. We can only hope that a Pakistan versus India day-nighter will happen in our lifetimes.
South Africa
South Africa took centre stage in a scintillating day-night thriller against Australia in 2016, and they dipped their toe into the water with a fixture against Zimbabwe at home the following year. Nothing further is planned in the way of day-nighters, but with Test cricket only having a small share of interest at home, it would seem sensible to gift Proteas fans with more day-night Tests. “I think there’s a real future for it,” said skipper Faf Du Plessis when quizzed about day-night Test cricket back in 2016, with seamer Vernon Philander also giving it a careful tick of approval.
Sri Lanka
The Lions have had plenty of experience in pink-ball cricket, with a 68-run triumph over Pakistan in 2017 and a four-wicket win against the West Indies followed by a drubbing at the hands of a fired-up Aussie squad at the Gabba at the start of 2019. Despite having sharply contrasting experiences of the format, Sri Lanka has been far quicker to embrace the prospect of day-night Tests than their contemporaries. Often the lab rats for experimentation in world cricket – Sri Lanka will field the first Test team to visit Pakistan in over a decade in 2020 – expect to see them ready and willing to get back under lights soon.
West Indies
Similar to Sri Lanka, the Windies have been more than happy to give pink Tests a crack, despite going down to England, the Lions, and Pakistan in all three of their outings. With Test cricket hitting rock bottom in terms of popularity in the Caribbean but T20 on the rise, it’ll take some serious revamping of the traditional format to keep the Windies on the right track for the future. Given the strong interest generated in day-night Tests after their lone outing in 2018, future twilight Tests are on the cards.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
'Despite having played three day-night clashes, the Poms don’t appear overly keen on the idea of day-night Tests.' Our daylight hours don't accommodate day-night test matches. On the summer solstice, the sun doesn't set until 10PM and throughout the majority of the summer, it only sets at about 9PM. Not much point having a day-night test if most of it is going to take place in the day.
Paul
Roar Guru
You raised an interesting topic in your first article, Alasdair. I'm sure there are proponents for & against day/night Tests in all countries but as usual, it comes down to two factors; who has the greatest say and which form makes the most money. England, for example, might be totally okay with only play day Tests at home because they feel they can still make enough money to at least break even. There's also the issue about playing at night in summer over there, when the light doesn't really fade till very late. India is all about who has the biggest say as it has been in recent decades at least. They're still not keen on the DRS for example, so it's not surprising they're ambivalent about day/night Tests. I'm also wondering whether cost is a factor for developing Test nations? Individual nations in the West Indies would have to wear the cost of lights, both installation and running, which would only make sense if they knew lots of fans were going to turn up. Ditto with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, probably New Zealand, etc, who aren't exactly flush with funds. Australia only went this way because CA believed it would bring in more people and to date, they're probably right overall. I'm guessing it's dearer to run a Test late into the evening compared to one that finishes at 6pm, so if/when the numbers don't stack up, I can see this joining other cricket experiments that have flourished for a time then disappeared and we revert to day games.
Paul
Roar Guru
don't forget in the olden days, we used to bowl 8 ball overs in Australia and 6 ball overs in England
matth
Roar Guru
And I disagree that tests in Bangladesh and Brisbane are more similar than a day and day/night test at the same venue.
matth
Roar Guru
What about tests with the swinging Duke vs the soft Kookaburra. What about tests in Pakistan played on matting wickets at the same time as uncovered turf pitches in England?
matth
Roar Guru
What about in uncovered pitches when teams caught on a ‘sticky’ could be shot out for next to nothing and often reversed their batting order or even declared early to get the opposition in on the drying pitch?
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Great post. George Lohmann ruined test cricket for bowlers for all time. His records should be expunged.
anon
Roar Pro
The game as evolved, but in any era all players more or less deal with the same set of circumstances. Pink ball cricket has little in common with Test cricket. Conditions become too much of a determining factor. Teams declaring at dusk so they can have 40 overs where they are unfairly advantaged, ball not up to Test standard, issue of dew on the ground which we'll see in India. A Test match on a spinning track in Bangladesh has far more in common with a Test played on the Gabba, than an Adelaide Oval Test has in common with an Adelaide Oval pink ball match.
matth
Roar Guru
I agree and we need separate tests stats for the following, as they are all different games: - tests on spinning decks, different game to tests on pace friendly decks - tests where it’s hot - tests where it’s cold - uncovered pitches - 3 days tests, 4 days tests, timeless tests. They all used to be played - the change to the no ball rule - the change to the LBW law - DRS vs non-DRS - Any tests involving Hanse Cronje - Any tests pre the 15-20 degrees elbow flew rule - tests with boundary ropes - tests with 8 ball overs - bat technology - tests where over the fence was 4 or 5 and a six had to be hit out of the actual ground - drop in pitches - matting pitches - pre bouncer limitations - pre helmets See, test cricket stats have never been “pure”. Test cricket has never been played under even remotely consistent and static conditions. So you don’t need to be precious about the stats.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
eminence grise was his job description I think Bushy :silly:
The Bush
Roar Guru
What was Sachin's involvement? Was he a manager or selector or something?
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Once India realises more money is made from night cricket they'll be on board. Ultimately it'll be a financial decision, which is why I'm so confident they'll head towards them. Yes India have been reluctant etc, but that was because they had Sachin who didn't like them and had a lot of clout. But that was then. Past performance is no guarantee of future earnings and actions as they say.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I don't think the concept will survive. It just doesn't seem like it's being taken up by the rest of the world. You really need at least one of either India or England to get on board for the concept to take off and India are reluctant and England uninterested. The summaries above seem to show that other than the anomaly of India-Bangladesh the other day, there hasn't been a Day Night Test outside of Australia since the Windies played one in June 2018. It's also concerning that outside of Australia, only Pakistan has played more than one at home, but even there, they haven't hosted one in over two years, including not playing us in one during a tour last year. There seemed to be a flurry of them in the 12 months between mid-2017 and mid-2018, and then it dried up? I'm presuming they weren't particularly successful? On top of this, from what I gather, only India and Bangladesh are even talking about more of them in the future and that is probably only due to the fact that they've just played in one; India has been particularly reluctant.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
I think the future of test cricket lies in 4 day test matches, using lights to get the extra couple of hours. I like them, it makes the game more accessible. Compare to the days of 25 years ago where we used to have full daytime test matches with days off for rest days, it's vastly improved. Day night tests are one of those moments where the players ultimately need to realise which side their bread is buttered on, they will get used to playing them and they'll certainly get used to the money. I don't see the need for separating the numbers between the two. Test cricket is test cricket. We don't set aside numbers for different conditions. I'm sure the broadcasters can isolate night cricket stats if they need to highlight an issue. I'd argue both our pink and red ball aren't up to standard simply because the Kookaburra turf special has no seam, no swing and the aerodynamics of a house brick. A better ball for the bowlers is the most pressing need for test cricket right now in Australia
anon
Roar Pro
I think the novelty is slowly wearing off. I'd like to see them start to keep separate red ball and pink ball numbers. You can still combine the overall numbers, but if it's a pink ball Test I'm watching then the pink ball stats are more important than the combined numbers. It's a different game to red ball cricket. The ball itself isn't up to standard. Can't they keep the red ball and just play until 7:30pm under lights in the middle of summer? Sure, it makes fielding conditions difficult if the ball is hit high in the air, but how many balls are slogged in Test cricket? The red ball might be tough at night for batsmen, but so is a bright glistening pink ball hooping around at dusk.