Cricket: Fingers, toes crossed for pink-ball test

NZC want to join the pink-ball revolution but Eden Park is off limits to night cricket on Sundays. Photo / Getty Images

Fingers are crossed at New Zealand Cricket on two counts after the release of the busy international home schedule for the summer.

Their bid to have an inaugural day-night test in New Zealand, at Eden Park against England in March is with the Auckland Council resource consent authority.

NZC are determined to join the pink-ball revolution but Eden Park is off limits to night cricket on Sundays. If they lose the bid, the test will stay in Auckland, even though it's a hard sell on midweek days.

"It would be a big blow for us, but a big blow for Eden Park as well [if the resource consent application is rejected]," NZC chief executive David White said yesterday.

"To be quite honest, test cricket at Eden Park during the day is a real challenge for us. Because of the delay [in the resource decision], we've said we'll play it there anyway. A day-nighter at Eden Park would be very successful. We're hopeful of getting the right answer."

Secondly, the inaugural T20 tri-series, involving England and Australia, has its final at Eden Park on February 21. A final without New Zealand in it would be a damp squib.

The summer comprises 35 internationals, an unprecedented number in a season, with visits from the West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and England. There will be four tests - which will bookend the summer - 13 ODIs and 10 T20 internationals - plus eight games for the White Ferns against the West Indies in March.

The men's schedule is a pointer to two things: the international programme globally is undergoing change; and another World Cup is looming.

England will host the 2019 tournament and there is sure to be a greater emphasis on the 50-over game for the next two New Zealand summers.

The test match championship - assuming it gets the green light at October's International Cricket Council meeting - will kick in in the next Future Tours Programme from 2019.

Points will be on offer in two tests of every series. Three-test series may become rarer, but test fans don't despair just yet: Bangladesh and India are pencilled in for three each in New Zealand over the next two seasons, so that's not necessarily a given. The West Indies schedule this summer is a pointer to how future seasons may look, with 32 days of cricket, and expect the 2-3-3 split " tests, ODIs, T20s " to become more prevalent.

Still, if you're a test fan it does not look promising.

Among other features of the schedule:

Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval will host three night time T20 internationals under the new lights at the ground.

Napier's McLean Park is back in business after the shambolic washout of an ODI against Australia last season. It will host an England ODI in February.

Whangarei's Cobham Oval returns to hosting international cricket, with an ODI against the West Indies. It's the first international at the ground since a one-dayer against Zimbabwe in 2012.

New Zealand A will play two two-day games against England, both in Hamilton, ahead of the first test. If Eden Park is a pink ball test, those games will replicate that scenario.

New Zealand have a solitary T20 against Australia in Sydney on February 3 as part of the tri-series.

The White Ferns have an eight-game visit from the West Indies in March.

Black Caps schedule

West Indies tour
1st test - Basin Reserve - Friday Dec 1 to Tuesday Dec 5
2nd test - Seddon Park - Saturday Dec 9 to Wednesday Dec 13
1st ODI - Cobham Oval - Wednesday Dec 20
2nd ODI - Hagley Oval - Saturday Dec 23
3rd ODI - Hagley Oval - Tuesday Dec 26
1st T20 - Saxton Oval - Friday Dec 29
2nd T20 - Bay Oval - Monday Jan 1
3rd T20 - Bay Oval - Wednesday Jan 3

Pakistan tour
1st ODI - Basin Reserve - Saturday Jan 6
2nd ODI - Saxton Oval - Tuesday Jan 9
3rd ODI - University of Otago Oval - Saturday Jan 13
4th ODI - Seddon Park - Tuesday Jan 16
5th ODI - Basin Reserve - Friday Jan 19
1st T20 - Westpac Stadium - Monday Jan 22
2nd T20 - Eden Park - Thursday Jan 25
3rd T20 - Bay Oval - Sunday Jan 28

T20 Tri-Series
Black Caps v England - Westpac Stadium, Tuesday Feb 13
Black Caps v Australia - Eden Park, Friday Feb 16
Black Caps v England - Seddon Park, Sunday Feb 18
T20 Tri-Series final - Eden Park, Wed Feb 21

England tour
1st ODI - Seddon Park - Sunday Feb 25
2nd ODI - McLean Park - Wed Feb 28
3rd ODI - Westpac Stadium - Satuday March 3
4th ODI - University of Otago Oval - Wednesday March 7
5th ODI - Hagley Oval - Saturday March 10
1st test - Eden Park - Thursday March 22-Monday March 26
2nd test - Hagley Oval - Friday March 30-Tuesday 3 Apr