South Africa’s Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander feel pink ball cricket should be played more often in their own backyard after they went down by seven wickets to Australia in the third ever Day & Night Test at Adelaide. Despite losing the match, the visitors sealed the series 2-1.
Faf also said the lights need to change drastically but it still offers something different to Test cricket.
“The questions we had about day-night cricket were more skeptical and now we are not so much like that anymore,” du Plessis said.
But there are positive signs. I would like to see it in South Africa. Obviously, the lights would have to be upgraded dramatically but it adds something different to Test cricket.”
Speaking about the left-arm chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi, Faf said he did not bowl to the plan in first innings but was better when handed the ball in the second one.
“In the first innings Shamsi may not have bowled as well as he wanted. But then in the second innings, in a different situation, he bowled really well. He stepped up to the challenge of being better.”
Vernon Philander, who took 12 wickets in the series, said the ball ‘did too much’. Praising his captain Faf du Plessis on the other hand, Philander said with the variety of seamers in the squad, Faf used the right bowler at the right time.
“Our attack now covers all bases and the guys have stepped up really well. With myself and Kyle Abbott upfront, we have seam and swing and then we have KG [Rabada] with a bit of pace. It’s wonderful to have all those varieties available to you but then it’s also up to the captain to see how to use it.”
South Africa have now won three consecutive Test series in Australia. In 2008, Graeme Smith’s men won 2-1 while in 2012, they clinched the three-match series 1-0.