White clothing, red ball, and bright sunny conditions (sometimes cloudy conditions). This has been the setting for a Test match for almost 150 years.
The tradition is continuing with much passion, though there has been a slight change. What change?
The change of balls and the conditions. Cricket has been at the forefront of transformation ever since its origin.
And one such transformation the sport has witnessed is the day/night Test cricket. These matches take place under lights and with a pink ball rather than the traditional red.
But why is pink ball used in day/night Test matches? Well, let’s find out the answer in this piece.
But before that, let’s see how we stumbled upon the idea of day/night Test matches.
History of Day/Night Test Cricket
The inaugural day/night Test took place back in 2015 at the Adelaide Oval between trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand. But it was in the late 2000s when the idea of playing day/night Tests came forward.
During that period, the two limited-overs formats – ODIs and T20s – were on the rise. They were drawing the crowd to the stadiums and to their TV sets.
As a result, Test cricket was losing viewership, with a lacklustre response from the audience. So to revive the interest of people, cricket administrators floated the idea of day/night Tests.
The idea was great, but there were few roadblocks. The major one being the colour of the ball and the other being the reluctance of administrators to adopt the newer form.
Somehow the ball manufacturers zeroed in on a glossy pink ball for day/night Tests. But there was an unwillingness to test the pink ball in first-class matches.
Finally, the pink cherry made its debut in a women’s ODI match between England and Australia in 2009. Following that, a few first-class matches took place under floodlights with the pink ball in the West Indies.
Since then, there have been notable instances of other countries using the pink ball in their first-class domestic competitions. And in 2015, we witnessed the first-ever Test match under floodlights.
It was an immediate hit among the Australian fans, with many wanting to watch more of pink-ball Tests starting in the afternoon.
But the question still remains – why the pink ball for day/night Tests?
Why is the pink ball used in Tests?
As mentioned earlier, the colour of the ball was a major concern. You see, the traditional red ball isn’t much visible after the natural daylight fades and the floodlights turn on.
Batters find it difficult to spot the red ball under lights. So the manufacturers had to find an alternate colour.
They manufactured balls with different colours, like yellow, orange, and pink. After a lot of trials, they discovered the fielders spotted the yellow and orange balls well, but the batters pointed out their colours mixing up with the brown patches on the pitch.
So the manufacturers went ahead with a glossy pink finish and black seam for the balls, which were visible under the lights to everyone. The manufacturing process of the pink ball is slightly different from the red one.
Read Next | Why are Only 2 Fielders Allowed Behind Square Leg in Cricket?
Leave a Reply