Sri Lanka’s use of the pink ball in view of day-night Test cricket

Sri Lanka opting to use the pink ball for the first time in its cricket history this week is significant with pink ball cricket set to take centre stage largely in the near future with the ICC envisaging day-night Test cricket. It was used for the first time in the first unofficial Test cricket match between Sri Lanka A and West Indies A at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday October 4. Interestingly, the over century long game of cricket that originated using the red leather ball has seen a progressive shift from the red cherry. It has been pushed to a back seat by the popularity of white balls, cork balls and the like.

Now with cricket’s global authority accentuating on day-night Test cricket, the latest shift contemplated will expectantlysee a paradigm new chapter in the game as a whole. For one, Test cricket, that is the longer version of this wonderful game, will undergo a transformation from its now old image with the shine taken off by instant cricket. Over several decades one-day cricket has become the fad among spectators with the introduction of the shorter version to 50-over cricket – the T20. But with day-night test cricket on the cards played with the pink ball in vogue, the older version that has been looked at by many with a yawn for its long drawn 5-day duration would derive a more attractive outlook. The night package too should bring on the frills.

The pink ball has been used by several countries in the recent past, and the Sri Lankan authorities too opting to use the pink ball is seen as a measure in gearing for the eventuality when the ICC stages day-night Test cricket in the near future where colored balls would figure. For the record, the pink ball made its official debut a few months in India, but it was first used in the West Indies early in this decade in Antigua a first class day-night game between Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi was the next venue for a pink ball day-night in March 2010 in the first Champion county match between MCC and Durham day-night staged outside England.

On September 12, 2011 the old masters of cricket gave the official green light to use the pink ball for a Division Two County Championship match between Kent and Glamorgan. The pink ball was also used in England in a women’s ODI between England and Australia in Wormsley on July 5, 2009.

Pakistan opted for the pink ball in December 2011 in the final of the 2011-12 Quaid-e-Azam trophy, its domestic first-class competition. It also figured in lesser degree domestic matches. It was again used in the final of Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam trophy in January in 2015-16. With Pakistan gearing for a day-night Test in Brisbane later this year, pink balls have been imported from Australia for the occasion.

In South Africa, the pink ball made its debut in September 2012 – not in a first-class match, but in a four-day match at Potchefstroom between provincial team North-West and franchise team Knights. But the quality of the ball ran into question and was a factor in South African players dislike to a pink-ball Test in their upcoming tour of Australia.
Sri Lanka has welcomed the pink ball with the Sri Lanka A skipper Dimuth Karunaratne reportedly stating that he did not see a big difference between the pink ball and the red ball.

By Srian Obeyesekere

-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-