After Cricket Australia announced that they were trialing the possibility of playing D/N games in their Sheffield Shield competition, Trans Tasman neighbours, New Zealand have joined in the fray and are keen to play D/N matches during their Test series in Australia in 2015. The ninth round of the Sheffield Shield competition will be a D/N affair with pink balls and the matches are set to be played in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. NZ cricket is exploring the possibility of playing a D/N Test during their tour down under in 2015.
Chief Executive of New Zealand cricket, David White, showed his keen interest in it by stating, "We are very interested in the concept. The potential to attract a much larger television sponsorship and viewership in the evening by roping in audiences in India and other big markets was of major interest to NZC."
White said, "I don't think anyone is trying to make out that this is going to replace Test cricket as we know it. From a New Zealand Cricket perspective, if it's successful we would maybe play one game a series. It will give people an opportunity to watch the game after work or after school, at the game and on the television, so that's got commercial possibilities.Our time zone with the northern hemisphere and India is not the most advantageous at the moment. By playing at night it opens up a lot more opportunity from an international broadcast point of view in terms of a better time zone. So there are strong, strong commercial opportunities there for us."
Further he said, "while it was crucial that players are not disadvantaged at any time during the match, including on the visibility front, recent progress in the development of the pink ball had been encouraging. "There has been talk about the twilight as a difficult time to bat. The ball is really interesting. I think we're up to version six of the pink ball and initially my understanding was that it discolored quickly, whereas now it's a lot better."
On the other hand, chief executive of the Australian Players Association, Paul Marsh, was cautious and careful in his words. He said that the players were not entirely convinced about playing D/N Tests and he did not want 'the integrity of the game' to be compromised by such measures. "At the moment the support from the players is divided. It's roughly 50-50 in terms of players who think day-night Test cricket should be pursued and that has moved towards more support over time," Marsh said. "Our view on any playing condition has always been that it must be trialed at domestic level before it gets to international level and I'm glad they are going down that path."
"In saying that, we are skeptical about the ability of the ball to stand up and that's been the problem... you don't want, by going down this path, to lose the integrity of the game and if you have a ball that is not going to stand up for 80 overs, then I think you have to look at it and say it can't be taken to Test level.We're going into this with an open mind but there are issues we believe exist and we would need to be convinced they can be overcome... if all goes well, it is something that could happen."
New Zealand keen on Day-Night Tests | Cricket News | Cricbuzz.com
Chief Executive of New Zealand cricket, David White, showed his keen interest in it by stating, "We are very interested in the concept. The potential to attract a much larger television sponsorship and viewership in the evening by roping in audiences in India and other big markets was of major interest to NZC."
White said, "I don't think anyone is trying to make out that this is going to replace Test cricket as we know it. From a New Zealand Cricket perspective, if it's successful we would maybe play one game a series. It will give people an opportunity to watch the game after work or after school, at the game and on the television, so that's got commercial possibilities.Our time zone with the northern hemisphere and India is not the most advantageous at the moment. By playing at night it opens up a lot more opportunity from an international broadcast point of view in terms of a better time zone. So there are strong, strong commercial opportunities there for us."
Further he said, "while it was crucial that players are not disadvantaged at any time during the match, including on the visibility front, recent progress in the development of the pink ball had been encouraging. "There has been talk about the twilight as a difficult time to bat. The ball is really interesting. I think we're up to version six of the pink ball and initially my understanding was that it discolored quickly, whereas now it's a lot better."
On the other hand, chief executive of the Australian Players Association, Paul Marsh, was cautious and careful in his words. He said that the players were not entirely convinced about playing D/N Tests and he did not want 'the integrity of the game' to be compromised by such measures. "At the moment the support from the players is divided. It's roughly 50-50 in terms of players who think day-night Test cricket should be pursued and that has moved towards more support over time," Marsh said. "Our view on any playing condition has always been that it must be trialed at domestic level before it gets to international level and I'm glad they are going down that path."
"In saying that, we are skeptical about the ability of the ball to stand up and that's been the problem... you don't want, by going down this path, to lose the integrity of the game and if you have a ball that is not going to stand up for 80 overs, then I think you have to look at it and say it can't be taken to Test level.We're going into this with an open mind but there are issues we believe exist and we would need to be convinced they can be overcome... if all goes well, it is something that could happen."
New Zealand keen on Day-Night Tests | Cricket News | Cricbuzz.com
