Cricket Australia says more day-night Tests on the cards

Cricket Australia plans for more day-night Tests

Following the overwhelming success of the first ever day-night Test match at the Adelaide Oval, Cricket Australia (CA) is of the opinion that more such matches must be organized in the future. An attendance of 123,736, and over 3 million prime-time viewers spoke for themsleves as the first-of-its-kind carnival proved out to be a reverberating success.

"At Cricket Australia we are about putting fans first so we are delighted that so many have embraced the day-night Test concept,” CA chief James Sutherland said. “We are constantly striving to give cricket fans what they want and as such, with the endorsement of visiting countries, we will seek to schedule more day-night Tests.

“The experience in Adelaide last weekend demonstrates the huge potential the day-night format has in revitalising Test cricket all over the world."

South Africa and Pakistan are scheduled to tour Australia next year, and Sutherland has revealed about his plans to include a day-night Test in each of those tours.

“I would strongly encourage other Test playing countries to enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to host their own day-night Test matches,” he said.

These remarks were also backed up by an independent survey conducted at the Adelaide Oval where almost 85 per cent of the spectators at the ground confirmed their affirmations related to the day-night concept.

"We believe that having the ability to move matches into the evening provides cricket fans with greater access to the game and there is no doubt that this will help grow interest in Test cricket," said Sutherland.

Australia play West Indies next for a three-match test series that commences on December 10, at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart. However none of three games to be played in this series have been scheduled to be day-night fixtures.

The call for day-night Tests was taken following the dimishing interest of the spectators in Test cricket, after attendances had dwindled from the stadiums over the years.Barring England, where Test matches generally recieve a full house, the interest of the fan from the longest and the oldest format of the game has been dissipating rapidly.

One of the solutions to this, via day-night Tests, was the inclusion of Test cricket into the prime-time television slot, thereby enabling more viewers access the game, who would have otherwise missed the day games due to their professional commitments.

This experiment was a roaring success as 3.19 million viewers watched the free-to-air coverage of the historic Adelaide test concluded recently.