The prospect of day and night tests has become the new trend in world cricket. Ever since Australia and New Zealand clashed in an iconic pink ball test at Adelaide, day and night tests have caught everyone’s imaginations in no time what so ever. In an effort to boost their test match viewership, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is eager to host New Zealand and Australia for day and night tests for their scheduled tours later this year and early next year.
However, it seems that the Kiwis are not too eager to contest the test match under lights. As per sources in New Zealand Cricket, the Blackcaps are likely to decline BCCI’s offer of playing one of the tests under lights. The technical aspects of the game have been brought into the picture by the New Zealanders. “The New Zealand board is not willing to play day-night Test as they are not comfortable with the Indian conditions,” a BCCI source was quoted saying to a leading daily. “There are various reasons, for instance the dew factor and ground conditions.”
“New Zealand played the first day-night Test against Australia and players could not find batting and fielding easy at dusk. So BCCI has got in touch with ECB and Cricket Australia to find out if they are interested in playing one day-night Test when they travel to India,” the source further added.
Another member of the BCCI said that the pink ball would be first tested at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in India. “If the shine remains then the ball will swing more but it will be of no help to spinners. There will no natural wear and tear, and will also impact the reverse swing. So it was decided to test it in NCA first,” the source said.