James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said: “Nearly 124,000 people attended the inaugural day-night Test match in Adelaide a year ago and there has been great anticipation about future day-night Tests since”.
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It was announced on Wednesday that Adelaide is to host its second day-night Test during the series with South Africa later this year but although the England captain Cook accepts it brings in the punters, he is not convinced.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has urged players to keep open minds to the prospect of day-night Ashes Tests, despite concerns from captains Steve Smith and Alastair Cook.
“A lot of the games have really good attendances, so I don’t think that’s a series where you need to do it at this precise moment in time”, he said.
“I think it (the Ashes) works pretty well with the red ball”, Smith said. The England opener had first hand experience of playing with the pink ball when he represented Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in a day-night fixture against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi a year ago.
“My personal preference probably would be, yeah (to keep the Ashes to day-only Tests)”.
“We’ve played one day-night Test match and this summer we have two in the schedule, so I think there’s a natural progression for us to get to a point where Ashes Test matches are played as day-night games”, Sutherland added. “The Ashes series is still a long way off and we want to get through this summer first, but we will play somewhere between zero and two day-night Tests during the Ashes in 18 months’ time”.
“The crowds and the viewers for the regular Ashes Test matches are pretty good”, Smith said in Guyana.
South Africa this week overcame their reservations to agree to play a day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide in November, before Pakistan experience the new concept in Brisbane in December.
CA has scheduled a pair of pink-ball tour games to help the Proteas prepare, while Australia’s Test players will feature in a day-night Sheffield Shield round. The Ashes is a great contest, and [it] will no doubt attract huge audiences both at the ground and on television.
Two of the matches from 2017-18 Ashes series in Australia might be played under lights.
Cook also has questions over the quality of the pink ball, which sceptics say is hard to see and behaves too differently from the traditional red ball.
“As long as we can continue to improve the ball, then I think it’s going to be a great form of cricket”, Smith said.
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“My issue with it is the quality of the pink ball [used under lights]. It even time-shifts games into a more appealing time of day in the U.K. That’s another factor we need to consider”.
