Future of Pink Ball Cricket?

[sunilz]

So IND have been involved in 3 D/N test matches till now . And all 3 test matches have ended in 2.5 days.
The major reason for having Pink ball cricket was to stop the decline of interest in test Cricket.
So is pink ball cricket fulfilling the above purpose? Is it too bowling friendly and needs to be re-designed.?

 

[Bijed]

Just from a quick look, I'd say there's reasonably extenuating circumstances for each one in fairness:

First one: At home vs Bangladesh, so a blowout would always be a distinct possibility

Second one: Probably wouldn't have got especially close to going 5 days, but was only as short as it was due to the freak 36 which probably had relatively little to do with the Pink ball

Third one: I'm not going to criticise the pitch at all, but it certainly wasn't conducive to run scoring. On a different surface, you'd think the two sides would be good enough to have made the game last a decent length

I would like to see more Pink ball matches if anything, and maybe as side-effect batsmen will become more accustomed to the nuances of how it behaves and matches like the one just finished will become rarer? If they did all keep lasting about 2 days that wouldn't be ideal though.

 

[honestbharani]

We definitely have to look at improving things with the pink SG ball. The ball cannot lose color and shape so soon, the pitches cannot be kept artificially green with soft outfields just for the pink ball and with our cricket season never being in the actual summer, there is always the threat of dew. Have to figure out how to get better at all these aspects for this to be viable for us.

 

[Shri]

pink ball is a gimmick

black seam on a pink ball sucks too and looks like it can have visibility issues at night

maybe it can be better if we just design a new white ball that acts different from the balls used in LOI cricket

 

[Burgey]

They’ve tried all sorts of variations of the white ball though. It just doesn’t wear well at all for whatever reason

 

[jimmy101]

pink ball is a gimmick

black seam on a pink ball sucks too and looks like it can have visibility issues at night

maybe it can be better if we just design a new white ball that acts different from the balls used in LOI cricket

Yeah, the pink ball Tests are a good visual, but it's becoming obvious that it just dishes up uneven playing conditions.

 

[Arachnodouche]

About right the games become a farce, the damned thing looks like a baby rattle.

 

[jimmy101]

Pink ball can be really hard to pick up when you're fielding as well. Especially at dusk.

 

[cnerd123]

Pink ball can be really hard to pick up when you're fielding as well. Especially at dusk.

That's true for any ball no? Don't think red or white are easier to pick up at dusk then pink

The leagues I play in made the shift to pink balls from red ones because the pink was easier to see throughout the game, especially with buildings, trees, etc in the background. I prefer fielding with the pink Kooka to the red one as well.

 

[jimmy101]

That's true for any ball no? Don't think red or white are easier to pick up at dusk then pink

The leagues I play in made the shift to pink balls from red ones because the pink was easier to see throughout the game, especially with buildings, trees, etc in the background. I prefer fielding with the pink Kooka to the red one as well.

From personal experience I have found the pink ball tends to 'blur' when moving quickly, & during dusk periods this problem gets magnified. Could be just me though, but I haven't found this to be the case with white balls.

 

[Daemon]

White balls don’t last long enough because they aren’t dyed and don’t have that extra protection. They get dirty and lose colour quickly.

They’ve done a whole bunch of testing even down to comparing green/black threads for the seam.

I think colour wise this is close to the best it’ll get in terms of visibility.

 

[the big bambino]

If the white ball behaves better then it’s preferable to the pink. Just change the ball more often when it gets dirty and adjust the rules specifically for d/n tests to allow it. Atm d/n games are just a lucky dip for bowlers.

 

[Arachnodouche]

If pink Tests are going to be a lottery then they might as well bite the bullet and play with a white ball, introduce new balls every fifty overs or thereabouts? Not sure if it can be done with the white clothing though

 

[honestbharani]

I think one of the reasons they wanted to play with a colored ball (in b4 white is a color too.. ) was that they wanted to play test cricket in whites. I actually think the pink ball represents our best bet and could one day, realistically, replace red balls fully, like how we now use white balls for all ODIs, even for the day games. These are just baby steps and remember how it took almost 30 years before white balls became the norm for ODIs.

 

[cnerd123]

the whole issue with white balls for Tests is that we would have to play Tests in coloured clothing, which would be weird AF and a massive step against the tradition of whites. I don't see it happening.

Personally I think we need to persist with pink, just need to keep fine tuning it. Try different coatings, different shades. The ODI white ball we have now is the result of decades of evolution, got to give pink balls the same opportunity. I'm sure that once players have more experience playing against it they will adapt too, and curators will better understand how to produce pitches for D/N tests that help negate the differences between the red and pink ball.

 

[NotMcKenzie]

I think one of the reasons they wanted to play with a colored ball (in b4 white is a color too.. ) was that they wanted to play test cricket in whites. I actually think the pink ball represents our best bet and could one day, realistically, replace red balls fully, like how we now use white balls for all ODIs, even for the day games. These are just baby steps and remember how it took almost 30 years before white balls became the norm for ODIs.

And again, I'll reiterate my point that this is a stupid idea, and only standardisation for standardisation's sake.

 

[Starfighter]

The ODI white ball we have now is the result of decades of evolution.

And it has all the same problems it had in 1978, except that it doesn't swing even when new now thanks to the deliberately flat seam.

But it sure was a good grift from Kookaburra to convince cricket boards and the ICC to buy twice as many rather than, say, trying an alternative like Dukes.

 

[Spark]

That's true for any ball no? Don't think red or white are easier to pick up at dusk then pink

The leagues I play in made the shift to pink balls from red ones because the pink was easier to see throughout the game, especially with buildings, trees, etc in the background. I prefer fielding with the pink Kooka to the red one as well.

I believe Chris Rogers has said that he flat out could not see the pink ball and would have made himself unavailable for D/N games had they been held during his career.

 

[honestbharani]

Wait, we don't play with the White Dukes ball when we play bilateral LO cricket in England?

I thought we use the white SG balls for LO cricket in India too.

 

[Athlai]

Pink ball is fine. India have just been in two of the jammier matches is all