Cricket: In the pink over new ball

Tim Southee says the trial could help relieve anxiety over the introduction of the pink balls into international cricket. Photo / Getty Images

A chance to grab the pink ball by the hand has Northland paceman Tim Southee excited as the Black Caps trial the new pink cricket balls for the first time in a warm-up practice session at Seddon Park, Hamilton, today and tomorrow.

With players anticipating the Black Caps up-and-coming historic day-night test match in Adelaide on November 27, Southee said the trial could help relieve any anxieties over the introduction of the pink Kookaburra balls into international cricket.

"I guess there's a lot of excitement and anticipation around how it's going to play and what it's going to be like," Southee said.

"It's going to be an interesting test match, there's been a lot of talk about it. Now that it's actually going ahead, the players are getting their heads around the best and ideal preparation going into it.

"[It'll] be interesting to see how it reacts there and then from there we'll get a bit more of a gauge on how it does and whether it does move around more at night or during the day."

The day-night test will be the third of a three-test series for the Black Caps on Australian soil this summer and will be the first to be played under lights and with the pink Kookaburra ball.

In camp with the Northern Knights for the past few weeks, Southee was also upbeat about getting back on the pitch after receiving a well-earned spell from the international scene recently.

Rested for the Black Caps' tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa, Southee said he had been relishing some rest and relaxation.

"It's been good, it's been probably the longest break I've had in my time playing for New Zealand.

"It's been a good chance to get in, do some some fitness and some strength work and now I feel pretty good leading into the season.

"It's never nice sitting and watching and missing a tour, but it's been a good chance to freshen up and get ready for what's a big month to come.

"In the last few weeks, we've sort of switched to more cricket specific training ... it's just been about getting back into the habit of the cricket side of things."

In the wake of the Black Caps' stunning Cricket World Cup campaign earlier this year, Southee said he was looking forward to the months ahead.

"Everyone's pretty excited about getting into cricket again and, hopefully, we can do it on the back of what we achieved last summer."

The pink ball practice hit-out, which begins at 2pm and runs until 9pm, will see the Black Caps testing the visibility of the ball in the daylight and under night lights.