Australia invites Pakistan for pink ball Day-Night Test, Misbah ul Haq apprehensive
Pakistan has confirmed that they have received a proposal from Cricket Australia to play a Test match under lights next summer with the pink ball. Pakistan is due to tour Australia for a three-match Test series during the 2016-17 summer, while the first ever day-night Test match will be held in Adelaide between Australia and New Zealand later this month.
"We have received a proposal from Cricket Australia to play a day-night Test in the 2016-2017 series," Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed told cricket.com.au. "The matter has been referred to our cricket committee for consideration.”
"In principle, the PCB is supportive of and inclined towards accepting and trying out innovative ideas and new technologies. And this includes the proposal of playing Test matches under lights," he said.
However, Cricket Australia did not confirm that an offer to play a day-night Test had been made, with a spokesperson saying: "We’re in the very early stages of working through our 2016-17 home schedule. At this point, we aren’t in a position to comment on specific details."
As per the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, the two boards playing the matches determine the hours of play and the colour of the ball. The PCB has been in favour of day-night Test cricket in the past, proposing a Test under lights in Dubai when they hosted Sri Lanka in 2013-14. However, Sri Lanka Cricket declined the offer as their players did not have match practice with the pink ball.
The pink ball debacle
The pink ball is something that has divided the cricketing world with mixed opinions. It will be used in the first day-night Test match when the Baggy Green face the Black Caps on November 27.
There has been scepticism and criticism of the new-type ball, designed to be more visible under lights than the traditional red one, with several players speaking out against it. Senior Australian batsman Adam Voges said it did not hold up well in recent matches against New Zealand in Canberra. New Zealand opener Tom Latham added that the pink ball deteriorated a little bit more than usual.
Pakistan’s premier first-class test tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final has been played twice under the artificial lights at National Stadium Karachi, using an orange ball in 2010-11 season and a pink ball in 2011-12.
The PCB also held a T20 tournament in Karachi in 2006 using orange balls. Just like Voges and Latham, Pakistan captain, Misbah-ul-Haq is apprehensive about the pink ball and its visibility at night. He has said that his past experiences have led him to conclude that day-night cricket can only work using a white ball. He also said using a white ball in Tests would also lead to the matches being played in coloured clothing.
"We played a domestic tournament in Karachi with the orange ball and it was a horrible experience for the fielders," he said. "Some catches even fell on the heads of the fielders as they just couldn’t see it. Maybe as a batsman you don’t find it that difficult due to the sight screens, but for fielders it was really hard to spot the ball with a black sky behind. In the twilight it gets difficult for batsmen as well.”
"Either you manufacture the ball which lasts 80 overs or use two balls, I can see it happening only with the white ball.”
"But then lot of things will need to be changed. With white ball the kits cannot be of the same colour so we will have to change the colour of kits as well," the captain felt.