Steve Smith eager to play D-N test against South Africa
Apr 28, 2016 at 5:14 PM
With question marks lingering over the fate of the proposed Day and Night test between Australia and South Africa later this year at Adelaide, Australian skipper Steve Smith has come up with his own view on the matter. Smith, who is currently representing the Rising Pune Supergiants in the IPL, stated that he was very much excited for the Day and Night test against the Proteas.
The proposed game has been in the news for quite some time now. Cricket Australia (CA) CEO James Sutherland had recently stated the significance of playing D/N tests, as they attracted more spectators than the traditional form. Keeping that in mind, Cricket Australia scheduled a D/N test against the Proteas for their home summer. However, the South Africans didn’t give a positive response, by openly questioning the format.
In his comments, Smith clearly mentioned that he was pretty serious about the issue. Smith said that Adelaide would be the perfect venue to host the game.”I know having spoken to the South Africans, a few of their older players were keen to experience day-night Test cricket before they finish playing. “The feedback we gave them was that Adelaide is the best place to play it, in our opinion,” said Smith.
“We’re playing one in Brisbane now, but Adelaide is the best place to play it and I think it could work there. “I don’t know where they’ve got their ideas from,” added Smith, in relation to assertions Australian players were reluctant to take part in a day-night Test against South Africa in Australia. “If they wanted to play one we’d be happy to,” Smith said.
Sutherland also reiterated Smith’s comments and said that he was optimistic about the game taking place. “I continue to be optimistic about the Adelaide Test match being played as a day-night Test match,” Sutherland said. “It’s a big opportunity. It will be a bigger crowd than the South African players have ever seen before. “We probably won’t see any firm decisions on that until after IPL is over and their players get back home,” Sutherland said.