AB de Villiers raises concerns over day-night test match
AB de Villiers raises concerns over day-night test match

South Africa’s test captain AB de Villiers is the latest star to raise his concern against the proposed day-night test match at Adelaide.
The third match of the three test series has been allotted to Adelaide,which Cricket Australia wanted to make a day-night affair but there is no confirmation yet . With the possibility of a No. 1 Test ranking at stake in the match, de Villiers said that that a day-night game could be “fundamental change” to the itinerary.

“At the moment, we are not too keen on playing in the proposed day-night Test match due to a few concerns that have come from a number of sources involved in the maiden Test played last year,” he told.

“We had a meeting with Steven Smith and some of the Australian players when they toured here earlier this year, and the consensus from our talks were that there are just too many unknowns. Players from both teams were reluctant to go ahead with it.

“South Africa and Australia have a great cricketing rivalry, and this is a series that we value. We could well be playing for an opportunity to regain the No.1 Test ranking, so playing a day-night match is a fundamental change to the itinerary.”

The star batsman also expressed his doubts over the durability of the pink ball used in the format. He was also concerned over the pitch which is altered to reduce wear and tearon the pink ball.
“The pink ball has had some issues with how it responds to 80 overs of Test cricket and that is one of the key issues that we feel plays a big role in the success of the day-night Test,” De Villiers said.

“The pitch also had to be ‘doctored’ to minimise the abrasive wear and tear to the pink ball, which seems to happen quicker than the red ball, and this is also an area we feel is a big factor in the run of play.”

De Villiers also said that a practice match under lights would not help them to get accustomed to the conditions so quickly.
“I don’t think it (warm-up game) will. I don’t think it’s something that you acclimatize to in one match and the intensity of an international cricket match also brings in other factors which are hard to replicate in a warm-up match.”

Meanwhile, AB de Villiers’ compatriot Dale Steyn sounded very excited to play the latest format.


“I don’t want to go through my whole career without playing a day-night game,” Steyn told in Rajkot where he  is playing the IPL .”How cool are they? I thought it looked awesome when New Zealand and Australia played one. It looked entertaining, there was a big crowd. The ball is pink – it’s something different. You want to test your skills with that whole thing and it’s very exciting, ” Steyn concluded.

The inaugural day-night test match between Australia and New Zealand was a huge success last year, but with number 1 ranking on the stake, the chances of a day-night match between South Africa and Australia looks bleak.