Australian cricketers not impressed with the idea of day-night Tests

Pink balls were used in the Sheild matches for a full round of day-night games in March as an experimentation by Cricket Australia

With the first ever day-night Test match likely to take place by November 2015 involving Australia and New Zealand after the mutual interest involving the two boards, the Australia Cricketers’ Association (ACA) is not happy with the matches that were played under lights using the pink balls as an experimentation towards the same.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Paul Marsh, the Cheif Executive of ACA mentioned about the difficulties felt by the players after playing a round of Sheffield Shield matches in March.

"The ball itself, they [the players] were quite critical of it. The general feedback was that it went soft very quickly, the ball didn't swing, it didn't seam, it didn't reverse swing. So it became a ball that was very difficult to get batsmen out with, but it was also difficult to score runs because it got soft quickly,” said Marsh.

Further commenting on the quality of the matches the pink ball might offer under lights: "The thing the game probably needs to look at here is that given the way the ball performed, the risk is that with no movement and the ball getting very soft, it could result in a very, very boring game of cricket,” he conceded.

“That's the risk. It might increase the excitement levels by having a day-night Test match, but you may actually lose out by having a ball that doesn't do anything.

"That's something that they've got to keep working on. The first day-night Test match, no matter what the ball is I'm sure people will turn up and it will rate well because it's new, but you've got to look beyond the first one or two games and look at the sustainability of it. I'd encourage them to keep investing in trying to find a ball that fits the purpose, because at the moment our view is that the pink ball is not," added Marsh on the future of the game.

ACA also conducted a poll after the day-night matches in March with the players on the success of the experiment and the results are not convincing enough according to the players association which Cricket Australia’s Cheif Executive James Sutherland agrees on, but believes that it is a right move forward.

"The players are supportive of trialing the concept. The players initially didn't think it was a good idea. They warmed to it ... but the problem has always been the ball and now that we've had the trials last year, the feedback from the players wasn't particularly positive around the ball.

"We're still very open to the trialing of it. We certainly commend Cricket Australia on trialing it. We think there's a little bit of a way to go yet before the ball is ready for Test cricket," mentioned Marsh.

Another round of Shield matches are to be played under lights with the pink ball at Adelaide, Perth and Hobart before the New Zealand board’s own testing of the ball.

The Shield matches were conducted at Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane this March. There were difficulties in visibility of the ball at the Gabba due to its different lighting arrangements, however, the ACA’s survey confirms that there was no issue in sighting the ball. Hence the visibility factor was met despite it’s poor swing and seam characteristics.

Results of the survey (via Cricinfo):

• Do you believe the day-night Sheffield Shield matches were a success?
• Yes - 11%
• No - 44%
• Unsure - 45%
• Do you believe day-night Tests should be played in the future?
• Yes - 24%
• No - 51%
• Unsure - 26%
• Did the pink ball show similar signs of wear and tear as the traditional red Kookaburra ball?
• Yes - 6%
• No - 94%
• Did the pink ball show similar characteristics, eg swing and seam, as the traditional red Kookaburra ball?
• Yes - 11%
• No - 89%
• Did the pink ball provide a fair contest between bat and ball?
• Yes - 25%
• No - 75%
• Was the pink ball easy to see while batting and fielding in natural afternoon light?
• Yes - 58%
• No - 42%
• Was the pink ball easy to see while batting and fielding under lights?
• Yes - 51%
• No - 49%