Day-night Tests

[silentstriker]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/current/story/377218.html

This is a very large Issue, especially in India. When ICL matches, all of them, in one city sell out, yet no one comes to see the best contest involving India in test cricket, there is something deeply worrying about the situation.

This situation is desperate. Day/night matches, colored clothes, I don't care. We have to get people in the ground.

 

[four_or_six]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/current/story/377218.html

This is a very large Issue, especially in India. When ICL matches, all of them, in one city sell out, yet no one comes to see the best contest involving India in test cricket, there is something deeply worrying about the situation.

This situation is desperate. Day/night matches, colored clothes, I don't care. We have to get people in the ground.

Is it really true that you could only buy a five-day ticket for this test and not individual days? If so, what kind of farcical marketing is that?

 

[Richard]

Having played league cricket with a pink ball as a trial last season, it is sometimes quite difficult to pick up in normal light and so wouldn't neccessarily be possible to use.

That's worrying. A ball supposed to help visibility actually hindering it.

 

[Richard]

These English players have played ODI' and T20' under lights pretty often haven't they and once day-night tests are officially launched, then obviously ECB would too start installing better flood lights across all the major grounds through UK.

It's not as simple as that. One, floodlight installation is a costly process and you'd have to know you had a fair chance of a good return on it. Also, as I say, day\night Test cricket over here is completely unneccessary, as even despite the fact that the usual difficulties (work, school, etc.) are as present here as anywhere else, Test cricket still draws considerable audiences.

And two, installing floodlights is not just a case of the ECB wanting to. Some areas the local authorities will not allow it, as residents will not be happy. The ECB is not the only party concerned in the matter.

 

[Uppercut]

Only problem i can think of is the ball. Definitely prefer the red ball as it lasts more than 34 overs. It also has the added advantage of giving something to the bowlers, which is long overdue.

 

[NUFAN]

Is it really true that you could only buy a five-day ticket for this test and not individual days? If so, what kind of farcical marketing is that?

It's a complete joke. Surely a few of the schools nearby could have got all the kids to the ground to boost the numbers too.

Pretty sure they'd learn more from a Sachin 100 then from any lecture.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Pretty sure they'd learn more from a Sachin 100 then from any lecture.

Err would they?

 

[Richard]

 

[GIMH]

If a solution to the ball problem (white balls in Tests are a big nono for me) can be found, I'd be 100% in support - provided it wasn't used where it was unneccessary.

There's no need at all for day\night Tests in this country for instance - houses are already full. As far as Australia is concerned I think the more pressing need is to be more careful about banning "fun" at the cricket than introducing day\night games, as Australia has always had considerable Test crowds until recently when some silly rules have been introduced. Likewise, the fact that India are "only" getting 25,000 in per day rather than the 70,000 you get for a ODI isn't a massive problem for my money. In West Indies I believe ticket prices rather than anything else is the biggest problem.

But in places like South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and (if their cricket survives at all) Pakistan it'd be a great idea IMO. Tests crowds are almost invariably desultory in all, and while I doubt it'll ensure full-houses I presume it'll up the atmosphere enough to justify the cost of the extra electricity.

Have to admit I'm instinctively anti, but mainly for old bastard & little Englander reasons. Tests have rubbed along quite nicely for over 130 years without using nights and, as anyone who has bought a ticket for a test in England recently can tell you, the demand is such the prices are an absolute piss-take, so we're doing quite nicely there, ta very much.

I do think that it's probably inevitable tho and having Australasian tests on at a reasonable hour would be a welcome change.

As some have said, the TV viewership would go through the roof. Like four_or_six, I see more LOI cricket in our home season, at least proportionally. With Tests, I generally get home when there are about ten overs left, and the missus gets all pissy because I want to watch the cricket rather than sit and eat dinner as a family...FFS

I think it would provide a boost to the economy; productivity must dive when Tests are being played as working cricket fans across the country sit on cricinfo all day.

 

[Top_Cat]

Absolutely think day/night Tests are a must. I say, make it happen and work out the practicalities as best as you can for now then make adjustments as needed. If that means experimenting with the ball as you go, so be it. If you wait for the ball to be absolutely perfect, it won't happen because there are some things you won't know until you try them (how it reacts to dew, whether there will be an unfair amount of movement, etc.). ODI's still don't have the ball or its use perfectly right but I haven't heard any rumblings that introducing them was a mistake.

The transition will not be seamless, stop expecting it to be. Being against day/night Tests purely because of that smacks of being obstructionist in my view.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

C9 can't have this, they'd have to not show A Current Affair!

 

[morgieb]

C9 can't have this, they'd have to not show A Current Affair!

Anyway, it sounds pretty damn good. Gives us a chance to still work and watch most (if not all) the cricket.

 

[NUFAN]

Err would they?

Mate, obviously.

What would you remember most about your schooling life, a normal Thursday where you studied and got all your Math questions right, or the day you went on a school excursion and saw God/Sachin hit a ton?

You could always learn on the day before if you are into school, or you could not go on the excursion if you felt school is for the win and cricket was not.

 

[Midwinter]

But would the TV stations show it ?

(I'm in OZ) They will show ODI and 20/20 because it is time limited and full of action.

Test on the other hand can drag out into dull draws and have substantial periods of play where for various reasons "not much is happening" to the casual viewer.

Reruns of american sitcoms and cartoons will draw bigger TV audiences than most tests. Thinkng of way free to air TV treats most sports ie late night replays

Are they thinking of selling the rights to pay TV ?

 

[Richard]

Mate, obviously.

What would you remember most about your schooling life, a normal Thursday where you studied and got all your Math questions right, or the day you went on a school excursion and saw God/Sachin hit a ton?

You could always learn on the day before if you are into school, or you could not go on the excursion if you felt school is for the win and cricket was not.

You're showing your age there, sadly.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Hey, I think it's a great idea encouraging kids to go and watch cricket and stuff like that, but I was just disputing the point that they'd learn more. Sure they might find it more memorable and enjoy it heaps more than school, but I doubt they'd learn more than actually being in school.

Stupid argument anyway, poor form from me.

 

[howardj]

I'll go back to one of the very few good points that Ian Healy has made as a commentator. You could really only play, in Australia, day/night Test matches in dry, non-dew, cities such as Adelaide, where the difference between batting in the day and batting in the night is minimal. Apparently, in day/night Shield games they had in the past, teams were declaring just before sunset with a view to exploiting the favourable night time conditions.