Friday, November 27, 2015 will be remembered as a landmark day in the history of cricket. Nearly 140 years after Test cricket was first played, Australia and New Zealand squared off in a day-night Test as the powers-that-be decided to do something about the dwindling popularity of the traditional format.
The Trans-Tasmanian rivals clashed at the Adelaide Oval for the inaugural day-night Test amid much excitement and speculation. Fans around the world tuned in to see Test cricket in an all-new avatar but would it really make much of an impact? Players would be sceptical about how the pink ball behaves over a period. Will the ball lose its shine? Will the changed hours affect players' body-clock? And what about the spectators in the stands?
It's too early to say whether day-night Tests will survive the test of time but we look at a few reasons why the experiment might fail drastically:
Playing with a pink ball?
The red cherry has found its sibling in the pink ball, which will be used for day-night Test cricket. Australia's local manufacturer Kookaburra has been working to produce 'the ideal ball' for the newest version of the game.
Pink was finally agreed upon after considering various other colours. Kookaburra has meticulously worked on the ball to get it ready for the first official Test match. "I don't think any Test ball has gone through the level of testing and development that the pink ball has, (or) the number of trials and feedback," managing director Brett Elliott was quoted as saying by foxsports.com. In spite of the hard work put in by the manufacturers, the pink ball has drawn a lot of criticism.
According to reports, the pink ball behaves abnormally under lights, once the dusk falls. The ball is said to have swung more under lights, which has made it easy for fast bowlers. The batsmen have had a horrid time under lights. Australian skipper Steve Smith used the situation to his advantage in last month's Sheffield Shield against South Australia. He declared in the last session and let his pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood cause enough damage.
There is already talk Brendon McCullum might declare Day 1 despite losing key wickets for not too many talks. In fact, the Black Caps wouldn't even mind being bowled out early just so their bowlers could have a crack at the Aussies with the new ball under lights.
Visibility issues
The visibility of the pink ball under lights has been another issue. Players have been uncomfortable sighting the ball under lights. Chris Rogers, who is colour deficient, was forced to pull out of the pink ball trials in the match between Victoria and Tasmania earlier this month. Rogers voiced his views against the usage of pink balls saying it would be difficult for players like him to adapt to the new idea.
The combination of the ball's colour with the side screen has raised a lot of questions. Back in 2011, when the pink ball was used with a black sight-screen in the match between Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Nottinghamshire, the Australian opener said that pink and black together led to a not-so-perfect contrast, saying a dark sight screen with dark coloured-ball did not help him.
Recently, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson had spoken about the visibility issue with the ball. "Personally, I couldn't see the thing at night on the boundary. I couldn't see the ball. So I'm not sure how the crowd are going to see it," Starc had said in quotes published by foxsports.com.
There have been reports that the new batsmen find it difficult when the ball is pitched up because of the glare under lights. Also, the ball was not picked up by spectators under lights.
Tea and dinner, instead of lunch and tea?
A player's body experiences different levels of alertness at different time spans in the day. For generations, players have started their day nice and early in the morning. They have been used to a particular schedule. Lunch after two hours of play, tea after another two hours. All that could be set to change if the day-night experiment works out.
Hard to please the purists
Purists always want Test cricket in its original format. They had raised their concerns when limited-overs cricket was introduced. Now when some tampering is done with their favourite format, more noises will be made. Whites, red ball, lunch and tea breaks have always been elements which have remained with the game. And why would people who adhered to the traditional fomat want to embrace pink balls and dinner breaks?
Balance between bat and ball a concern
Test cricket is all about facing challenges. The longest format of the game is a test of skills, concentration and temperament. But a contest will be able to invite interest only when there is a balance between bat and ball. With day-night Tests, there seems to be an undue advantage to the bowlers, the initial inferences say. Batting under lights has always been difficult and with the pink ball, it is going to be even more difficult.
The captains and the coaches have their task cut out now. They will have to rework a lot of strategies that have worked well for them for years. At a stage, when players are facing difficulties playing the longest format, struggling to curb their T20 instincts, tampering with the Test format and expecting more effort from the players does not seem to be the right way forward.
Amidst all the claims of the pink ball losing shine early, it will be interesting to see if the ball holds up for the entire 80-over span.Here's what Australian pacer Peter Siddle had to say about the new concept: "I've always loved Test cricket for what it is, and how it's played," he said.
"I just feel there's too much change from the original - you're in your whites, with a red ball, and you're playing throughout the day. That's how it's always been and that's why it's been so good," Siddle said.Now with day-night Tests in practise, players have to get used to playing through the evening. Concentrating under lights will be a difficult task for the players, at least in the first few day-night matches.
written by ~ CHARITHARDHA 
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