Pink ball goes soft early, says Hastings
John Hastings echoed the opinion of Mark Wood with regard to the pink ball after Worcestershire’s Specsavers County Championship match against Durham at Chester-le-Street was abandoned yesterday.
No play was possible over the last two and a half days and Hastings said: “It was unfortunate we didn’t get to see how the ball performed over 96 overs day in, day out.
“I’ve used a pink Kookaburra quite a bit back home in Australia, but I think the Dukes has a long way to go. It allowed the bowlers to dominate early on, but went soft around the 25-30 over mark.
“It’s a different game playing day-night cricket because the ball reacts differently under lights.”
Hastings, who played for Durham in 2014 and 2015, took 3-10 in eight overs in his opening spell as the hosts were reduced to 18-5 on the first morning, when he had Ben Stokes caught behind for a duck.
“That one bounced a bit more and nipped away slightly,” he said. “He’s a good mate, so it was nice to get him out.
“I don’t think the pink ball did anything exceptional – I’ve seen the red one do more at Riverside. On a fresh pitch here, it’s hard as a batsman – you have to react to what the ball does off the pitch.”
Durham’s second innings never got underway after they were dismissed for 197 and trailed by 170.
Coach Jon Lewis said: “We’ve played well in our last two matches but our standards dropped in this one. The only benefit is that our bowlers only had to bowl once. We’ve had seven seamers injured at various times, but Paul Coughlin will be fit to play at Chesterfield next week and Usman Arshad will come into the reckoning.”