There was quite a furore after play was lost during January’s Sydney Test between Australia and South Africa despite the floodlights in operation at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The reason being red-ball is not properly visible when it gets darker and even artificial lights aren’t sufficient enough.
Ball manufacturer Duke claims that they have improved upon the pink ball to make it last 80 overs meaning it can be used for day Tests and thus address the age-old problem of play being lost due bad light.
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As of now, pink balls are only used for day-night contests but they have been criticised for becoming too soft too soon.
Duke managing director Dilip Jajodia says they have solved the problem.
“I have a pink ball that is superior to anything else on the market, which will last 80 overs,” Jajodia told the Herald and The Age.
In fact, he feels that the time has come for Test cricket to move on from red ball to pink ball. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t move on to pink balls for red-ball cricket all the time. It doesn’t have to be day-night, it can be during the day, there’s no problem,” Jajodia said.
Since 1877, when the first Test match was played, red balls have been used in the format at both the domestic and international level. However, to attract more audience towards the format, day-night Tests have been introduced which utilise pink ball to ensure visibility throughout a day’s play.
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“There is always the question of tradition, ‘we must have a red ball for red-ball cricket, we can’t have anything else’. But you’re in the entertainment industry. There are a lot of people who are paying a lot of money and they’re getting shortchanged,” Jajodia said.
While Australia has embraced day-night Tests, England, the birthplace of cricket, has hosted just one pink-ball Test – in 2017 at Edgbaston against West Indies.
Till date, a total of 20 day-night Tests have been held with Australia playing hosts in 11 of them while India have organised three of them so far. Pakistan have been hosts twice while England, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand once each.
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