Cricket: Twilight saga tests pink ball

BJ Watling evades a pink-ball bouncer in Hamilton. Photo / Getty

The pink ball's chances of passing muster at test level look rosy.

Its gaudiness means visibility for players and spectators won't be an issue if the open wicket practices this week at Seddon Park were a gauge.

The fluorescent ball assaults the retina like a piece of ostentatious costume jewellery. Its chances of providing gems to sustain day-night tests by further prising open Subcontinent broadcasting markets are also positive for administrators.

But batsmen might be the biggest beneficiaries.

This writer arrived at dusk to witness BJ Watling hoisting Jimmy Neesham with ease over midwicket for four. There was no doubt of the trajectory as the ball lit up the darkening sky. A subsequent late cut and cover drive offered further evidence the ball was more discernible than a Lady Gaga brooch.

Visibility might be more of a problem for fielders. Later during the dusk session, Hamish Rutherford spilt a Martin Guptill skyer as he stepped back towards cow corner. However, Doug Bracewell later pouched Tom Latham with ease at gully.

A forensic examination of the spectacle raised two questions:

Should players be given the choice of a black or white sightscreen, given both illuminate pink relatively well?

Should pink fluorescent boots, like those worn by a couple of bowlers, be permitted?

The shift to pink-ball test cricket could mimic the transition Kerry Packer's original rebels undertook when transferring to white-ball day-nighters in the late 1970s.

Modern professionals have played day-night cricket from domestic level up.

This next adjustment might not justify the panic that the game's most sacred format might be subject to change for commercial objectives.

The ground was ablaze in so much light that the transition into the evening session appeared smooth.

New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson batted at dusk against a new ball on Thursday. He offered a phlegmatic perspective.

"It swung a bit, similar to how a white ball responds when you get a bit of shine on it with the dew," he said. "It's a bit like playing ODI cricket at night.

"When the lights come on in England [during day sessions], the wicket gets dewy and it tends to quicken up. It can provide a bit of movement.

"It's just a matter of getting used to it, but the ball has stayed hard the whole time.

"You don't want to think about it too much. You want to stick to the basics: watching the ball if it swings when you're batting, and using that to your advantage if you've got the ball. It's just as important to adjust to the [session] timings."

Pace bowler Matt Henry was similarly unconcerned.

"There wasn't too much difference under lights. We just need to get used to catching in the darker conditions, but the pink ball's actually quite bright, so it wasn't too bad.

"Even with the white ball, the twilight phase is difficult, so not too much of a change really.

"We need to trial it more. It's good to have as much knowledge as possible to perfect our plans but our strategies tend to revolve more around the [opposition] players themselves."

The Black Caps take on Australia in the first pink ball day-night test in Adelaide starting on November 27.