The International Cricket Council chief executive, Dave Richardson, admits bad light will continue to affect Test matches after captains rejected the idea of playing on to a conclusion under floodlights for fear of creating “unjust finishes”.
England’s drawn first Test with Pakistan on Saturday has brought the issue of floodlights in Test cricket into sharp focus, with Alastair Cook’s side left 25 runs short in their fifth day chase of 99 when the umpires called a halt to proceedings at 5.46pm.
By this stage the floodlights were already in use but having overtaken the natural light, the precedent set by light-meter readings taken on day four meant the on-field officials, under the current playing regulations, had no choice but to end the match.
It was the second time in two years that England have had a late run chase cut short by bad light despite the floodlights being on, with the Oval Test in 2013 against Australia called to a halt when they were 21 runs short of their target before being taken off.
Aware of the damaging affect to the game’s image of such unsatisfactory finishes, the ICC sounded teams out about agreeing to play on in such situations, only for Cook and Australia’s Michael Clarke, who they claim to have contacted first, to say no.
Speaking at the ICC headquarters on Monday, Richardson said: “There’s no doubt that it’s one of those issues cricket has been faced with historically, and we’ve not really found a solution to it.
“We have attempted in the past to say to the players, if you have floodlights and they’re good enough to use for Test cricket, we should just bite the bullet, and even if conditions are not as good as they might be normally, we should just play on and finish the day’s play. However that approach wasn’t accepted by any of the teams. They felt that would be unfair and would lead to unjust finishes.”
Cook insisted on Saturday that his understanding, from the pre-series meetings between captains and match officials, was that safety remained the main consideration in such circumstances and in his view there was no such issue in England’s second innings.
Fielder and umpire safety must be considered as well as the batsmen, however, with neither benefiting from the sightscreens when trying to pick up the red cricket ball under floodlights. One solution is for a more fluorescent ball to be used, taking bad light out of the equation in grounds with such facilities.
Next month will see the first day-night Test match played between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide, using the same pink Kookaburra ball that has been trialled successfully in the MCC’s season-opening Champion County fixture for the past six years.
While Richardson played down a comment given in an interview with the Times that suggested a “greeny-yellow” ball may be introduced, he admitted the pink ball could come into day games provided it can last 80 overs and does not take swing and seam movement out of the game.
Despite missing out on taking a 1-0 series lead, England, who enjoyed a rest day on Monday, are relaxed about the manner in which the Abu Dhabi Test finished, with the over-rate – 17 were lost in the match overall – as much to blame as the issue of bad light.
Pakistan meanwhile have added Bilal Asif to their squad for Thursday’s second Test despite the off-spinner having been reported for a suspect bowling action during the third one-day international against Zimbabwe earlier this month.
The 30-year-old is free to play for his country until results of bio-mechanical testing are produced and he will provide cover for leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who missed the first Test with a back injury and forced Pakistan to play a three-man pace attack.
