Adelaide remains Australia's first-choice venue for D/N Tests. Getty
Even though India are yet to experience a pink-ball Test match under the lights, Cricket Australia are confident of persuading them to play one next summer when they visit the country to play four Tests. Ever since the inaugural Day-Night Test in 2015 between Australia and New Zealand, teams have embraced the new concept with the games drawing huge numbers. The BCCI though has expressed its reservations in playing with the pink ball and has refused to join the bandwagon.
Speaking to ABC Radio on Sunday (December 3), CA chief executive James Sutherland pointed out that it's been decided by the board to host at least one Test match under the lights every summer. "I would anticipate there's not going to be too much problem there," Sutherland said. "As we've discussed at ICC level, it's very much in the hands of the home country to make judgments on what they think is best. Certainly it's pretty well telegraphed that from our perspective we'd be playing at least one day-night Test match every summer."
Apart from India, Australia will also be hosting Sri Lanka for Test matches next summer and Sutherland admitted that the hosts might have two D/N Tests in their calendar. "Certainly India, we would expect to draw a bigger crowd (compared to Sri Lanka)," Sutherland pointed out. "That will be the first four Tests of the summer. It's not all about that, it's also about how it fits, there's considerations like weather in different parts of the country at different times of the year. They're all the things we need to balance and make a call on over the course of the next few weeks before announcing that final schedule."
Sutherland also reiterated that Adelaide, which is currently playing host to the first ever Ashes D/N Test, will remain the first-choice venue in the country for pink-ball Tests. "Certainly we've always felt Adelaide is the natural venue for day-night Test cricket," he noted. "We played in Brisbane as well and I think that's worked well, we didn't do it this year for an Ashes but I think going forward we would see at least Brisbane and Adelaide as being day-night Test venues.
"I know (Australia Day) is a very traditional timeline for Adelaide and the South Australian Cricket Association and this stadium, but at the same time they're also becoming increasingly attracted to this day-night Test match at this time of year. We'll obviously talk that through with them and with others who have an interest in hosting an Indian Test and a Sri Lankan Test and make a conclusion on that in the coming weeks."
