New Zealand keen to host England in a pink-ball Test

Ever since the first ever pink-ball Test took place between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November 2015, it was clear that they won’t be curtailed to just one-off experiment. The success of the inaugural floodlit Test match was immense with over 1,00,000 people pouring in across the three days for which the game was played.

Post the positive reception, 3 more Test matches were played which again gave positive results. The purpose of a day/night Test matches is to attract the audience to the stadium who could finish work and enjoy Test cricket at the Stadiums or at home.

England are set to host their first ever pink-ball Test at Edgbaston against West Indies in August. They are then scheduled to play another such game in the second Test of the Ashes series in Australia where Adelaide Oval will host the third pink-ball Test in December.

Following the footsteps of Australia and England, the Kiwis have also expressed the desire of hosting a floodlit game in their country. England are scheduled to travel to New Zealand in February-March next year to play 5 ODIs, 2 Tests and a T20.

Though the first Test is scheduled to be played at the Eden Park in Auckland, where the local council have put a ban on major events taking place late on Sundays, New Zealand will move the Test out of Auckland if the ban is not uplifted for a day/night Test. Hamilton’s Seddon Park and the Westpac Stadium in Wellington could get to host a pink ball game if things don’t work out with the Auckland administrators.

England are set to play 3 day night Tests between August 2017 and March 2018 and a majority of their Test players will seek much-needed practice in the round of floodlit domestic Championship games towards the end of June.

Ticket sales for the Edgbaston Test is already soaring as more than 45,000 tickets are already sold, much more than what it would have been in a traditional Test match involving a lowly West Indies.