Amir will make bow as history made with pink ball
CRICKET chiefs are already considering a second round of d a y/n i g h t County Championship matches next summer if this week’s proves a success.
History will be made in the English game today, when a full round of Championship fixtures starts using a pink ball, and with the last part of each day illuminated by floodlights.
This round has already brought welcome attention to cricket’s oldest first-class competition, even though England Lions’ match against South Africa will deprive counties of some key players for at least a part of the games.
One of the purposes of the pink-ball round is to prepare England players for their Test against West Indies at Edgbaston in August, which will take place under similar conditions.
Yet the sheer novelty has placed the County Championship — which often struggles to be heard above the din of 21st-century sport — in the spotlight this week. If the move is well received, it would be no surprise to see it repeated annually — something which has already been discussed at a senior level.
Surrey captain Gareth Batty talks in his exclusive Standard Sport column today of his young bowlers’ determination to prove their quality against England pair Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, who will play for Yorkshire at Headingley this week.
Ben Stokes, English cricket’s brightest star along with Root, will play for Durham against a Worcestershire side featuring Moeen Ali.
This is also the week in which Mohammad Amir will be introduced to firstclass cricket in England.
The Pakistan fast bowler, who received a five-year ban in 2011 for spot-fixing, is back to his best after a WHEN trialled in Abu Dhabi in March, the pink ball boosted the bowlers and made for a lowscoring affair, so the Championship games are unlikely to last the distance. England paceman Stuart Broad, when trialling it, suggested the seam was more pronounced.
The ball is made by Dukes in Walthamstow and is dyed leather rather than having a pigment sprayed on.
Champions Trophy where his figures of three for 16 in the final helped secure a famous victory over fierce rivals India. He makes his debut for Essex against Middlesex, the champions, at Chelmsford. County chief executives are hopeful that the 2pm start, rather than the traditional 11am, will draw a post-work crowd.
Even if, however, the experiment is never repeated, MCC deserve huge credit for the development of the pinkball idea. Lord’s has long made the case for staging day/night Test cricket, using the pink ball, to revive the five-day game, with audiences dwindling across the world. Despite considerable scepticism, MCC moved the Champion County match — when MCC take on the champions to open the season — from
There were signs that the pink ball would tilt the match decisively, but the MCC pushed ahead
Lord’s to Abu Dhabi seven years ago, moving the hours of play and introducing the pink ball.
At the time, MCC head of cricket John Stephenson said: “We have been asking cricket authorities around the world to help us trial the pink ball under floodlights. If this match is a success, it could help reinvigorate Test cricket. We have an opportunity to play our part for the good of the game and we are determined to grasp it.”
Nearly eight years later, an Ashes Test — at the Adelaide Oval from December 2-6 — will take place under lights.
Two years ago, at the same venue, Australia faced New Zealand in the first day/night Test, attracting more than 125,000 spectators across the three days.
Stephenson and his colleagues deserve praise: when they proposed this, there were complaints about the quality and behaviour of the pink ball, while there were fears that twilight conditions would produce exaggerated swing and tilt matches in favour of the team bowling at the time.
Yet MCC pushed ahead, convinced they were helping the game. These are early days but the signs are promising.