Future of cricket – On 2nd December Australia took on England in the second Ashes Test match at the Adelaide Oval, Australia’s brand new hub of pink ball cricket, for a day-night pink ball match on Saturday.
This is the third time a day-night encounter is being at the Adelaide Oval played between the hosts and the visitors. In the last two occasions, Australia emerged winner Nevertheless, the Australians have adopted Test cricket’s highly commercial genre day-night pink ball cricket better than any other team.
But, one point must be noted that all these matches were warped up either inside four days or the proceedings got over on the third day. Winning with a big margin, nevertheless, is a matter of pride of a Test cricket playing team. But, for fans, it is a matter of sadness. Test cricket is something which takes time to be poised, hence if a match gets over even before the fans settle down at their seat it is a melancholic moment for the game.
Day-night an instant among the cricket fans
Game’s custodian International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced the pink ball cricket with an objective to embrace the young fans in these fast-paced days. Hence, if a Test match gets over within three or four days it is a matter of sheer disappointment for genuine Test cricket fans.
So, the day-night Test cricket, which was introduced to international cricket in 2015, remains a subject of debate to the cricket puritans. However, the pink ball cricket witnessed packed stadia with the format offers people a platform to enjoy their evening break after a day of hard work, and it is also a stage for people who spent an entire day at home. This is a new trend, and it is not visible in red ball Test cricket in the last one and a half decades.
The day-night Test cricket is a successful move in terms of embracing the spectators who turned their face off from the oldest format of the game due to the busy schedule.
Pink ball: Future of cricket – A nightmare for colour-blind cricketers
Future of cricket –
When the day-night Test is an instant hit among the cricket fans there are various issues which created a problem for many cricketers. For colour blind cricketers the pink ball is a nightmare. Batsmen like Garry Balance, Chris Rogers and Matthew Wade on many occasions expressed their problem with the pink ball. When a fast bowler unleashes the pink-ball the colour blind cricketers can’t see the ball, and in almost every team across the world, a colour-blind cricketer will be there.
So, the question is for that one player ICC will shelve the pink ball cricket considering a few cricketers’ problem, especially, when it won heart and mind of cricket fans.
When the pink ball cricket was introduced to international cricket a portion of the cricket world raised their voice against this day-night Test match because they believed that it would destroy the charm of red ball cricket. But, this is not the first time a section of cricket community opposed to a new innovation. In 2005, when Twenty 20 International was introduced the puritans ripped ICC apart as they thought that the shortest format of the game will affect the Test cricket most. But, proving them wrong, T20 cricket has complimented the longest format as the cricket has become fast-paced, batsmen are scoring runs fast and athletic fielders are very common. These developments revitalize the red ball cricket.
The new innovation is good, but ICC should take care of cricketers, without them the game is nothing. In order to resolve colour blind cricketers’ problem, ICC should introduce new technologies to the pink ball. Along with this, the international cricket governing body would also take the necessary steps to find out the reason why the matches are not moving to the fifth day.
This is Future of cricket – If these problems are resolved the pink ball cricket, never the less, will revitalize the Test cricket, otherwise, this innovation could have boomeranged.
