Pink-ball Tests have been part of the calendar for nearly a decade but flicking the day-night switch did not spark anything near the revolution that it did in the 50-over format.
There has been a slow trickle of evening Tests even though they solve a lot of problems for the grand old format in the modern battle to stay relevant.
Since the first day-nighter between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide in 2015, there have been just 21 men’s matches and two women’s Tests.
When the Kerry Packer rebellion turned the cricket establishment on its head in the late 1970s, the thrill (and novelty factor) of day-night cricket had fans flocking to the grounds and a couple of decades later, daytime ODIs had all but been totally eclipsed.
Australia will host their 12th when the 22nd day-night Test gets underway at the Gabba on Thursday afternoon in what is expected to be another lopsided fixture against the outclassed West Indies.
Pat Cummins bowls Privthi Shaw during the 2020 Test in Adelaide. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Why has the pink-ball revolution never gathered speed?
As is often the case in cricket, India gets what India wants and the BCCI’s enthusiasm for the pink-ball encounters has never gone higher than lukewarm support.
The BCCI bigwigs claim the pink ball costs revenue because matches end quicker and they don’t like it when Tests don’t go the distance.
Anyone who witnessed the pitches that were rolled out for the first three Tests of last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India will be scratching their heads at the logic behind that reasoning put forward by BCCI secretary Jay Shah last month.
“We will have to increase the amount of interest in the public for the pink-ball Test,” he said, claiming they tend to be over “in 2-3 days”.
“Everyone wants to watch a Test match lasting 4-5 days. Once they get more used to it, we will do more pink-ball Tests.”
Shah does have something of a point that 10 of the men’s pink-ball clashes have been over on day three.
India were the last of the Test-playing nations to give day-nighters a try, waiting until 2019 when they hosted a win over Bangladesh. They lost one the following year to Australia when they became the “Adelaide 36ers” in the second innings but have won their other two pink-ball affairs on home soil against England and Sri Lanka.
Day-night men’s Tests results
| Tests | Wins | Losses | |
| Australia | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| England | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| India | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Pakistan | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| West Indies | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| South Africa | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 0 | 0 | 1 |
India’s reluctance aside, one of the genuine factors in the push to have more day-nights Tests played is the fact that all 21 matches thus far have ended in a result. Not one draw, although both women’s four-dayers (Australia vs England at North Sydney in 2017 and India at the Gold Coast in 20121) did not yield a result.
Day-night Tests should be worth more to cricket administrators when they go to the bargaining table to negotiate broadcast rights deals because they run through the prime-time hours instead of the traditional mid-morning to late-afternoon timeframe.
Spectators should be more likely to be able to attend a day-night Test – the old “knock off work early” manoeuvre rather than taking a full day off from employment or school commitments.
And during an era where batters get pretty much all the benefits when it comes to changes to the laws of cricket, playing conditions and modern innovations, the bowlers get a chance to dictate terms more when the pink ball is in operation.
That’s not to say there aren’t drawbacks.
No lesser publication than the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport investigated the use of the pink ball in day-night matches among professional cricketers in the UK.
The study, published in 2020, found that there was a perception among players at the elite level that the pink ball was harder to see than the red one during the twilight hours and recommended that a break in play should be instituted around this time each day as a safety measure.
There is no doubt the pink ball tends to swing more than the red one, particularly at night, but that creates its own little nuance to tactics in these matches.
When the South Africans took on the Aussies in a day-nighter at Adelaide in 2016, captain Faf du Plessis declared his team’s innings nine down late on the opening evening to have a crack at the local openers.
Apart from the first Ashes Test when the Bazballers tried the same tactic, it’s rare that you see a tactic like that put into place.
This week’s Test between Pat Cummins’ world champions and the eighth-ranked Windies could unfortunately become the second match in as many weeks that doesn’t reach the halfway point after the series opener in Adelaide was over by the seventh session.
Judging by the green tinge on the wicket when the teams trained at the ground on Wednesday, the groundstaff are running the risk of another seaming monster which could drag the Australian batters back somewhere near the touring team’s level.
But after last summer’s Test in Brisbane was over inside two days due to the vicious bounce and movement of a pitch rated “below average” by the match referee, the ground risks further sanctions from the ICC if the batters are rendered helpless against the cumulative effects of a swinging pink ball on a seaming wicket.
Don’t purchase tickets for day three just yet, let alone four and five.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
That’s not really true though. Dew played a major role in Australia’s win against Afghanistan. And all the games at Ahmedabad were won by the team batting second apart from Australia v England (where there was heavy dew but England were just really bad). Batting first was an advantage at certain venues (notably Mumbai thanks to the swing in the evening), but not as a general rule.
Vamsi K
Roar Rookie
I don't see why India playing D/N tests is such an issue for Australia or other nations to host such tests when they are playing other opponents. In India, dew is a major factor and rather than the pink ball and night conditions aiding the bowlers, it will make it difficult for spinners to grip the ball and easier for the batsmen to play as ball comes on better on to the bat. And no amount of dew spray will help avoid it. During the ODI WC, dew wasn't felt much in many matches as most opposition lost too many wickets in the first 15 overs during second innings to take advantage of dew. In the Ind vs NZ semifinals NZ almost chased the mammoth total as batting became easier after the initial 15 overs. The fact that they lost a few wickets initially and the total was huge, helped India. As someone pointed out England doesn't need D/N tests as light stays far longer over there. So, it is Australia, NZ, WI and SA who can host D/N matches since other Asian nations will have same dew problems as India. Effectively, there can be 1 D/N test in a 3 test series or 2 if it is 5 test series in the above said nations. So, whether India hosts D/N or not shouldn't be an issue and when touring Australia they have 1 D/N test anyways. Given most of the tests lasting not more than 4 days, it would be better to start all tests on Friday so that the most happening day 2 and 3 fall on holidays. If match goes to day 4 and a result is possible, then the fans will certainly watch them.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
Opeo I wasn’t aware of the anti dew spray.
jammel
Roar Rookie
As I say, McDonald has been very good. I listen to a range of podcasts - TGC, Ed Cowan on the ABC Grandstand, CricketETC, The Final Word, Wisden Cricket Weekly, etc. The latter two's WC final previews I believe covered off on the dew point - if not some of the others too. It was a good decision to bowl. But I do think Rohit might have done the same too. There are really some outstanding cricket podcasts around rn. TCG for humour and cultural references. But Ed Cowan is pretty good too.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
"Many podcasters/commentators were talking about the prospect of dew 1-2 days in advance as well." Who? Before the final all I can remember reading was saying how massive the toss was because batting first had PROVEN to be advantageous through the whole tournament. The commentators on channel nine certainly did not understand the decision until Australia were 15 overs or so into their batting innings. It is not just the decision to bowl first in the final. There were the tactics in the final itself, what he did when he coached in the big bash, when he coached two ODI series wins in India, when took the reigns of the nation T20 team and won a world cup in that format too.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
My understanding is that the anti-dew spray was very effective and dew was basically unsighted until the final. Before the final people were perceiving batting first to be a massive advantage.
Gilberto
Roar Rookie
So has an away team ever won one of these?
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Is there any evidence that anti-dew spray is effective? Dew still played a major part in the World Cup, including in the final, so I would say probably not. Dew combined with the lacquer on the ball is thought to be the reason why the ball skidded through so alarmingly under lights in the 2021 Ahmedabad test. If this can be overcome, then yes dew is not a major problem although very heavy dew will obviously disadvantage the fielding team.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
38 per cent of all games in India in the 2000’s went the full five days, ending in draws, compared to 13 per cent since 2013 and just nine per cent since 2020 (one in eleven matches). https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/03/11/data-proves-that-indian-pitches-have-clearly-deteriorated-whether-they-are-doctored-or-not/
jammel
Roar Rookie
I think people were surprised...it was certainly a good decision. But I do think that India might have done the same if they won the toss. Many podcasters/commentators were talking about the prospect of dew 1-2 days in advance as well. So I don't think you can say "Everyone". McDonald has been very good. The selectors generally speaking as well. But I wouldn't call them genius myself. I'd call Beethoven + daVinci + Einstein geniuses, not Ronnie McDonald! :)
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The main issue with more day night test matches in Australia is the Big Bash League. This is article seems to focus on India in particular. If you think about a day night test with India is going to run in good daylight hours in India. Normally a test match here would run from 5.30 am to 12.30 in India so not the best time slot there. Day night test match runs 9.30 am to 4.30 pm that very much more appetising to the Indian broadcasters. Then a Perth day night match finishing in Indian prime time would be even better for them.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Sure they could do that and it would help but still T20 has vastly more money. Not even the IPL which is an unlimited bank vault, but even the national leagues have enormously more than is available to Test Cricket.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
I really miss the tri-series as well. It's almost impossible to believe these days that the non-Australian fixtures would still get a reasonable turn out. I remember going to see England v Sri Lanka in 2003 at Sydney. There were about 20k people there. On a Monday. You struggle to get 20k to turn up to ODI fixture with Australia playing these days. Those 12 matches were just a great part of January. For a month there was cricket three days a week. It was great as a kid. We'd be away on summer holidays. beach in the morning, and then the second stint of beach with ABC radio on the walkman and then get home in the late afternoon and watch the rest of the match. They were idyllic days.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Everyone was incredibly surprised that Cummins chose to bowl first. If people knew it was going to be dewy this would not have been surprising. Yes, McDonald is an incredible white ball tactician.
OrchardTrees
Roar Rookie
Yeah I agree. I think they should just pool ICC funds to support a competitive minimum payment for a 15 man roster for each Test playing nation Test players on the yearly contracts and then T20 can do the seperate renegade thing
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Interesting comment , for a test to start at 5pm in India which would be the most lucrative Tv market it would have to start at 10 30 pm on the east coast so it could be a white ball test. I can appreciate your desire to fully pimp this one out for Indian TV dollars, is the Australian broadcaster who pays 200m for the local rights per year going to be happy with that, plus a tiny crowd, plus the players ,etc.
jammel
Roar Rookie
Is this right? I think there were a number of commentators 1-2 days beforehand talking about the potential for dew. A la Lahore in 1996. It was on a fair few people's radar I think. And ultimately there wasn't too much dew is what a number of players said. I think Rohit might have been saying that to play into some mindgames. is McDonald actually a legit genius?
Opeo
Roar Rookie
This is tangential but this is the genius of McDonald. Rohit Sharma said he would have batted first in the world cup final. No-one in the world, not even the Indians, knew that dew was going to be a factor in that game, but McDonald did.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Australia needs opponents to play though, and test cricket is being crushed by T20 globally. Look at the South African team...
OrchardTrees
Roar Rookie
I get the concerns, but Test Cricket in Australia is really healthy. This was meant to be the worst summer ever and all 4 matches have had record crowds against the opponent, and the GABBA crowd is apparently nearly sold out for Aus Day too Then the next two summers are India and England