Taking aim
Stokes has New Zealand in his sights as England prepare for first Test
Were it not for a single caveat, England could be confidently predicted to win the inaugural day/night Test to be staged in New Zealand, starting tonight (1am UK time).
The first Test will be interrupted by showers over the first two days and nights, but that still leaves time for a definite result because the pink ball is expected to hoop and the match to be relatively low-scoring – even if the straight boundaries at Eden Park are shorter than most village greens.
New Zealand are fourth in the Test rankings, England fifth, but New Zealand rely on half a dozen core players who have been playing since they toured India last October; and they have only 21 full-time cricketers in the whole country.
England have been able to fly in specialist Test players, such as their opening batsmen, Alastair Cook and Mark Stoneman, and their opening bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and this freshness should make a difference.
England also have more experience of the novelty that is day/night Test cricket. They have played two pink-ball Tests since last August, at Edgbaston and Adelaide, and New Zealand have played only one, back in November 2015, when half their current side were not involved.
It is true that winning Test series abroad is becoming less and less common. But, as England captain Joe Root points out, one year into his Test captaincy, New Zealand conditions are as close as they come to England’s, so the tourists have relatively little adapting to do.
“It has been a tough winter until now,” Root said, “but we have two Test matches to put a different stamp on this winter and change our momentum going into the summer, which again has some really big cricket coming up [against Pakistan and India].
“It is a big series for us coming from a big defeat like the Ashes, so we need to make sure we put that right and come away with some success overseas, because it’s not happened for a while. Looking around world cricket, it is hard for any side to win. It is one of the biggest challenges within that format, [but] I suppose there will be a lot of similarities in terms of the conditions and certain aspects of the cricket here to home.”
The caveat is that this day/night Test is far more likely to be turned on its head in a session than a daytime match. The pink Kookaburra ball, which retains its paint and hardness, swings – and even more so at twilight, so that if New Zealand were to take a new ball in a final session, England could be rolled over. The home side have three capable pace bowlers in Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, who is the freshest of them as he is a Test specialist and New Zealand’s most effective Test seamer in the past couple of years.
Wagner, operating from round the wicket, will come closest to simulating the Australian fast bowlers who made England duck and weave in the first half of this winter.
But it will not be a series to rival the Ashes, or South Africa v Australia, for animosity. Root and his opposite number, Kane Williamson, are too sensible and go too far back. “I’ve played a few games with Kane, and stayed in touch the last couple of years,” Root said. “I met him for coffee throughout the one-day series, caught up on a few things, chatting about world cricket – and he’s obviously coming back over to Yorkshire in the summer.
“So, I suppose it’s always nice to be able to keep in touch with different players throughout the world, especially when you get the chance to work with someone like Kane – who’s one of the best batters. Of course, we wouldn’t be trading any sort of secrets.”
Good crowds are expected here by New Zealand standards if the rain does not deter: perhaps 10,000. The novelty of a day/night Test undoubtedly increases the gate and television audiences. The question is what will happen when the novelty wears off.
Some preliminary evidence is emerging. An England supporters’ group, the Addis Army, has polled its members and received 113 replies, a significant sample, and 27 per cent advocate day/night Test cricket, while 73 per cent do not. Specifically, of those who have attended a day/night Test, 63 per cent did not enjoy the experience, and as many as 95 per cent said they preferred traditional hours. One Addis Army member commented: “Part of the joy of touring is exploring the country and enjoying the local culture. Day/night cricket ruins that. Games don’t finish until past 10pm.”
Another member summed up the problems thus: “(1) It takes up your whole day. (2) The temperature – too cold in the evening. (3) You need to take two sets of clothing. In addition, I need to take two pairs of glasses, one for day and one for night. (4) Potential transport issues after the game. The Auckland
Test is a prime example with trains to and from the stadium that finish early. Frankly, if this ‘product’ continues, I will not be among the future audience.”
Day/night Test cricket has been designed to attract a new television audience, notably of women and children. But once the novelty wears off, if the grounds are emptier than before, and Test cricket appears even less cool, this experiment could do more harm than good.