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The Pink Ball Debate

AndyZaltzHair

Hall of Fame Member
Starc has recently fueled the controversy surrounding the usage of pink ball in day/night tests. Kookaburra maintains that they are using the same materials for pink balls except the coloring thing but the same they have been telling for red and white cherries. White ball tends to swing more in first part and wears out quickly. Will it be same for pink balls? Also that ball seems to move and swing more under floodlight but that has to do a lot due to conditions probably. They have been testing the pink one for some time now and kookaburra has released a statement that it's ready for international cricket.

According to Behrendorff,

I learnt that if I can bowl with a newish pink ball under lights I’m very happy – it swings around a bit,” Behrendorff told cricket.com.au. “The thing about the pink ball is there’s definitely an advantage bowling at night. “The ball swings around a bit more and even if it’s a bit older it still swings. “And the balls were definitely improved this year (2014-15). “The balls retain their shine a bit more and they changed the seam from white to green which might have helped the bowlers at night a bit.”
Starc unimpressed by pink ball | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

Behrendorff reveals pink ball secret | cricket.com.au
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
Kingcricket said:
Earlier in the year[2011], Dravid accepted an offer to play for MCC against Nottinghamshire in Abu Dhabi. It was a day-night first-class match and by all accounts the ball darted about a fair bit. Dravid made a duck in the first innings and when Nottinghamshire were then bowled out for 108, we wondered why Dravid was there.

He’s Rahul Dravid. He can do what he likes. Why would he risk getting a relatively high profile pair in a first-class match which is really beneath him? Unconcerned by all of this, Dravid promptly hit a hundred.

Then, as an encore, he deflated all the arguments about the ‘unfairness’ of the ball doing more when the lights came on. His argument was as elegantly simple as his batting:

“Conditions change in Test matches and they change here.”
Ultimately, Test cricket is about coping with conditions that aren't constant as the match goes on at quite a fundamental level, and things that add to that are not to be discouraged just because they're new.
 

AndyZaltzHair

Hall of Fame Member
Personally this is going to be mouth watering if the pink ball behaves anything like behrendorff suggesting. Imagine Boult under lights bowling to Smith with pink cherry and men in white uniform sorrounding the pitch.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
That's actually an excellent point. I'm strongly in favour of day/night Tests as a concept, I think they'll be amazing to watch, but there's always been an unease at the back of my mind in terms of "what if the ball really talks under lights? Is that really fair." But then again, if you win the toss at Lord's and it's overcast as **** day 1, you bowl and generally benefit from the ball swinging everywhere, then if the sun comes out day 2 you cash in because the place turns into a road in the sunshine. Getting a bowl under lights is the same as random weather variances affecting conditions really, when you think about it.
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
That's actually an excellent point. I'm strongly in favour of day/night Tests as a concept, I think they'll be amazing to watch, but there's always been an unease at the back of my mind in terms of "what if the ball really talks under lights? Is that really fair." But then again, if you win the toss at Lord's and it's overcast as **** day 1, you bowl and generally benefit from the ball swinging everywhere, then if the sun comes out day 2 you cash in because the place turns into a road in the sunshine. Getting a bowl under lights is the same as random weather variances affecting conditions really, when you think about it.
Yes I'm comfortable with this variability - adds to the ebb and flow of the match if certain types of players (e.g. swing bowlers) have advantages or disadvantages at certain times.

It's only if the pink ball and conditions lead to low-quality cricket that I'd be concerned - e.g. ball doesn't swing or seam, but batsmen struggle to pick it up and can't hit it off the square anyway, so the cricket becomes turgid.
 

Burner

International Regular
Looks like the bowlers are getting some break after all. First the ODI rule change, now this.
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Has there actually been session times released for the D/N Test? Just how much is actually played at night? I'm in two minds about this whole thing. It could be exciting and I'm interested to see how bowlers and batsman fare with/against the pink ball, but at the same time kinda annoyed that a lot of the players participating won't really have had that much experience with it (thank **** we get two warm up matches with it at least). I actually know very little of the setup. Like is a standard red ball used during the daylight hours?
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
Has there actually been session times released for the D/N Test? Just how much is actually played at night? I'm in two minds about this whole thing. It could be exciting and I'm interested to see how bowlers and batsman fare with/against the pink ball, but at the same time kinda annoyed that a lot of the players participating won't really have had that much experience with it (thank **** we get two warm up matches with it at least). I actually know very little of the setup. Like is a standard red ball used during the daylight hours?
I've heard 14:30 to 21:30 local time, with tea and dinner breaks.
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Yes I'm comfortable with this variability - adds to the ebb and flow of the match if certain types of players (e.g. swing bowlers) have advantages or disadvantages at certain times.

It's only if the pink ball and conditions lead to low-quality cricket that I'd be concerned - e.g. ball doesn't swing or seam, but batsmen struggle to pick it up and can't hit it off the square anyway, so the cricket becomes turgid.
Yeah, when it comes to humid places this might be an issue. Excessive dew doesn't make for great cricket imo.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Glad it's been brought up already that the ball improved this season.

Did Starc play in this year's round of Shield with the pink ball? I don't think so (from memory). There were pretty ordinary reports from all trials prior to that.
 

AndyZaltzHair

Hall of Fame Member
likely disadvantages what i've gathered

1. ball gets soft quickly (thus lesser bounce soon?)
2. starc mentioned that it's hard for him to pick the ball from distance
3. crowd likely to lost it
4. color blindness might be an issue for spotting
5. dew factor at night

i think the ball is more brighter now with better visibility because of extra lacquer they used and moving more maybe since starc played
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Don't ask me to explain why/how, but supposedly the seam being green (rather than black) has made a difference in seeing the ball.
 

Spikey

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Glad it's been brought up already that the ball improved this season.

Did Starc play in this year's round of Shield with the pink ball? I don't think so (from memory). There were pretty ordinary reports from all trials prior to that.
he did. took the match winning wicket. The Home of CricketArchive

that match, SA took the new ball in the night session with Henry in the 90s or something, approaching his first century, and Worrall got the ball swinging all over the place. was hilarious
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Has there been enough pink ball cricket played for there to be near-over equivalent alternatives when McCullum asks for a ball change 10 times an innings?
 

Top_Cat

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Test cricket is about playing in a variety of differing conditions so, by definition, changing the time of day you play the game will change the conditions. The idea of when during the day and how much a ball should swing will necessarily change too, cannot expect it to be the same as playing during the day and the idea of calculating new stats for D/N Tests is rubbish. As long as you can see the ball, it's not dangerous and it doesn't have to be replaced every 30 overs due to shape/softness, reckon the players should just deal.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Starc is just upset that the pink cricket ball looks like the zits on his face.
 

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