England are set to reject any plans to play a day/night Test with a pink ball on their next Ashes tour of Australia.
BBC Sport reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board senior officials told their Cricket Australia counterparts during post-Ashes talks that they want all five Tests in the 2029/30 to played with a red ball during day light hours.
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The call for tradition comes despite the fact England’s next Test on Australian shores will be played with the pink Kookaburra at the MCG in March next year for the 150th anniversary Test match.
The decision to make that celebratory game a day-night affair has been criticised by the likes of long-time radio commentator Jim Maxwell and former Australian Test players Jason Gillespie and Darren Lehmann, but while those arguments are about honouring tradition, the ECB’s stance may have been driven by their nation’s players.
Before the Gabba pink ball Test last month, Joe Root shared his view that a day/night encounter is not essential to the Ashes.
“A series like this, does it need it? I don’t think so, but it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be here either,” the champion batter said.
Australia’s Steve Smith supported calls to axe the pink-ball Test for Ashes series when quizzed by reporters at the SCG on Thursday, declaring he was “more than happy” for the fixture to be scrapped.
“I’m not a big fan of the pink ball, I can’t see the thing very well,” Smith laughed.
“I don’t think you need it in Ashes series. I think we saw the crowds that we got throughout the series out here in all the red-ball games.”
Day-night Tests have been an annual fixture in Australia since their introduction in 2015 and while the men in baggy greens have been a formidable force with the pink ball, winning 14 of 15 contests around the world, it has been the stuff of nightmare for English cricketers.
Root scored his maiden Test hundred in Australia at the Gabba, but Ben Stokes’ side was beaten convincingly by eight wickets.
It was England’s fourth loss in pink ball Ashes matches in as many starts.
The day-night Test has been popular because of the more broadcast friendly hours it offers while adults are still at work and children are still at school in the early stages of the summer.
It is also gives England supporters in the Old Dart the chance to watch more of a day’s play at a more reasonable hour with play starting at 4am and running through to 11.30am compared to 11.30pm-7am for a day Test.
The ECB may also be trying to pigging back off Australia’s decision to make all four Tests against New Zealand next summer, as well as the two Top End Tests against Bangladesh red ball affairs, leaving the 150th anniversary match as the stand-alone pink ball contest of the season.
Another sticking point from the Ashes series just gone with the tourists’ preparation with the ECB and CA said to have reached an agreement on warm-up matches for the next two series.
After England opted to play a three-day match against the England Lions at Lilac Hill before the first Test in Perth and coach Brendon McCullum admitted he “didn’t get that right”, a report by The Cricketer said the two organisations agreed that England will be offered a first-class match at a venue of their choosing depending on the location of the series opener.
Australia will be afforded the same opportunity when they head to England in 2027.
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