David Warner believes that pink ball is a worry for the players

David Warner, the Australian vice-captain had expressed his concerns regarding the pink ball used for the day-night Test matches, while Cricket Australia is planning to have day-night Tests against South Africa and Pakistan in their 2016-17 home season. “The concept is fantastic and it is a great spectacle, but for those of us who play it, the most important thing is getting the ball right,” he said from India where he is playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

David Warner pointed out that since it’s not a red ball, the players cannot shine it up like they do with a red ball, which is key for the swing in a Test match. “It’s always going to be an issue because it is not a red ball. You can’t shine it up like you do a red ball and Test cricket has always been about using the red ball properly when you’re in the field. Looking after it to get swing is a key and we can’t do that with a pink ball because it will not shine up.”

Warner had featured in the inaugural day-night Test played against New Zealand in Adelaide last year and he had also pointed out the difficulty of the batsmen to see the seam and understand which way the ball is going to swing. ”It’s still hard to see during the twilight period,” he said. “The guys on the side boundaries have trouble picking it up. You have to get that right.

“With the ball they used last year, there was no chance of seeing the seam. If you’re a batsman it is critical to be able to see the seam as it gets closer to you so you can work out which way it is going to swing — if it does.”

The concept of day-night Tests is a great concept for the spectators, but for the players, there has been a lot of worries. Australian administrators regard the inaugural day-night Test as a great success with 123,000 spectators and an average television audience of two million.

James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive is confident that the day/Night Test in Adelaide will go ahead as scheduled. “If you think about one-day cricket, for example,” he said on radio this week, “as the host country we can decide if we want to play the one-day games starting at 10AM or 2.30PM. No one else has any say in it, so why cant we do the same thing with a Test match?” he said.

Also, read – Chris Gayle bats for day-night Tests