Ashes 2017/18: England Seeks Help from Proteas on How to Manage the Pink Kookaburra in Adelaide

Apr 6, 2019 at 2:09 PM

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Ashes 2017/18: England Seeks Help from Proteas on How to Manage the Pink Kookaburra in Adelaide

The upcoming Malegan Ashes is expected to be a fierce battle between Australia and England which is scheduled to kick off on November 23 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The five-match series will consist of a day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval. England doesn’t have enough experience of playing under lights in a Test match so Anderson sought advice from other opponents on how and when the pink ball might misbehave during the historic pink ball Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval.

Anderson arrived in Adelaide with other fellow England cricketers to prepare for their first tour game of their two-month-long tour. It will be a four-day match against a Cricket Australia XI which will be played with the pink ball and under lights. The match starts on Wednesday, and the visitors will look to get enough match practice under lights.

It is the 4th time Anderson is visiting Down Under. He admitted the fact that this England side does have relatively less experience of playing under lights than their counterparts. Till now England played only a solitary day-night fixture against the Windies at Edgbaston early in the year.

Anderson sought the verdict of the players who have been involved in a day-night Test in Australia in the recent past. Meanwhile, he wasn’t ready to accept the assessment made by Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc that the Pink Kookaburra is less likely to swing than the English version of the pink ball which is manufactured by Dukes. He had a chat with the Proteas who played a Pink Ball Test in Adelaide during their series victory Down Under last year. The hosts won it by seven wickets after losing the first two Tests quite comprehensively.

Mitchell Starc

“We spoke to the South Africans when we played them in our summer (this year) and they said it was difficult in the twilight period and when the lights came on,” Anderson was quoted as saying to the local reporters after arriving in Adelaide for the first tour game on their two months long tour.

“So we tried to tap into them for as much information as we could. We’ve played one pink-ball Test match in England but not with the Kookaburra, so having the chance to come over here and practice with that and play a first-class game is important for us.

“I guess that’s part of the game, trying to find out if the ball does swing and especially what time of day it does it, so it’s really useful practice for us. Especially playing at Adelaide where the Test match is going to be. “I’ve heard that it does swing a bit more, the pink Kookaburra, which is good for all the bowlers, to be honest.”

Ashes 2017-18, Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes, Dressing Room Leader, Australia Vs England, Alastair Cook, James Anderson
Anderson and Broad have been chief architect for England with the ball. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Regardless of whether the pink Kookaburra swings through the air or comes back of the seam which was the case in a recent JLT Sheffield Shield Match between NSW and SA Anderson is upbeat and waiting for the arrival of the 2nd Test scheduled to start on December 2.

“It’s something different, certainly in Test matches, but the games I’ve seen have been fantastic Test matches,” Anderson said when asked for his view on day-night Test cricket. “The game I played in England and a couple of Test matches at the Adelaide Oval, the actual spectacle looks fantastic, especially when you get a full crowd.

“We’ve got practice tomorrow and then obviously the game is a first-class game, so we want to perform well, but also see which stages of the game are important in (the way the ball behaves),” said Anderson.

 

James Anderson. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Also Read: (Ashes 2017/18: Josh Hazlewood Throws Support Behind Hilton Cartwright for Number Six Spot)

(Watch: Mitchell Starc Sizzles Western Australia with Hat-Trick on Ashes 2017-18 Preparations)

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