Australia paceman Mitchell Starc says he is “yet to be convinced” Kookaburra’s pink ball is ready for day/night Test cricket.
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The first ever floodlit Test will take place between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide from November 27, with both governing bodies delivering a positive spin on the initiative. It is hoped that revised playing times can help reinvigorate the longer format, drawing larger crowds and better television audiences in the evenings.
But Starc, who used a pink ball at the Adelaide Oval during a Sheffield Shield trial, has broken ranks by delivering a less-than-ringing endorsement of Kookaburra’s current product.
Congrats to @CricketAus for embracing all things pink with their new pink ball! http://t.co/5VMmhtYv0f @McGrathFdn applauds your support!
— Glenn McGrath (@glennmcgrath11) June 30, 2015
“It’s definitely not a red ball. It doesn’t react anything like the red ball, in terms of swing and the hardness of it,” he said. “It goes soft pretty quickly, I didn’t see a huge amount of reverse swing in that game and I don’t think it swung from memory too much until the artificial light took over.
“I can understand why it’s happening, and how we’re trying to progress the game and evolve it but I guess time will tell whether it works or not.
“I’m yet to be convinced. The other thing as well is, personally, I couldn’t see the thing at night on the boundary…I couldn’t see the ball, so I’m not sure how the crowd are going to see it.”
Starc’s views place him at odds with a poll commissioned by www.cricket.com.au, which showed that a strong majority of respondents favoured the introduction of day/night Tests.
A total of 10,500 fans were polled, with 68 per cent supporting the concept compared to 21 per cent voting against and 11 per cent undecided. Speaking earlier this year Kookaburra said it was confident its ball was Test ready after “extensive” testing.
Despite misgivings among players, officials from both countries decided to proceed this year with the experimental format.
“To be brutally honest, if you look at Test cricket around the world, it is challenged,” Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland said. “We believe this is an opportunity that can breathe new life into Test cricket.”
CA, backed by broadcaster Channel Nine, has promoted the idea for years and trialled day-night first-class cricket during the past two Sheffield Shield seasons. The historic match in Adelaide will be the third and final Test in a series between the trans-Tasman rivals.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann said it was a way to boost the popularity of Test cricket, which is seen by purists as the pinnacle of the game but has been overshadowed by limited-overs formats in recent years.
“Only time will tell if it’s right or wrong,” he said. “At the end of the day we’ve got to give it a crack and I think it’s important for the game.” Lehmann said he viewed the match as a chance to participate in a piece of Test history.
“It adds something special to it,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what it brings, seeing how both teams perform under lights, a massive crowd, it’ll be exceptional for everyone.”
Australia will play three Tests against New Zealand in the southern summer – Brisbane (Nov 5-9), Perth (Nov 13-17) and the Adelaide day-nighter (Nov 27-Dec 1).
They will then host the West Indies in another three-Test series – Hobart (Dec 10-14), Melbourne (Dec 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 3-7).
