England will host day-night test, says board chief

Friday, 20 May 2016 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: The concept of day-night test found a new taker in England with board chairman Colin Graves confirming the country will host a twilight test.

Australia and New Zealand played the first floodlit test last November at Adelaide Oval and the innovation is taking roots across Asia.

India and Pakistan are scheduled to play day-night tests this year while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are considering following suit pending the results of domestic trials.

“You can’t turn your back on it, it will happen,” England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Graves told BBC Sport.

“We just have to decide when it is going to happen. We’re doing a lot of work on it and we’d love to see day-night cricket.”

The first floodlit test at Adelaide Oval lasted only three days raising doubts if the pink ball can last the duration of the required number of overs in an innings.

But the test also attracted more than 123,000 fans through the gates at the picturesque ground, a welcome sight at a time when the game’s longest format is grappling with dwindling crowds with the advent of the shortest Twenty20 format.

England have also attempted a minor shake-up by proposing a points-based system to determine the winner of their home series against Sri Lanka beginning on Thursday.

The points-based system is aimed at injecting more excitement into the tour and add context to matches that otherwise maybe of merely academic interests.

Graves said work needed to be done to make the longest format more exciting and relevant.

“We have to make test cricket meaningful and we have to put some ‘oomph’ behind it,” Graves said.

“Test cricket is safe if we do something about it, but I don’t think it is safe if we do nothing. That is not an option.

“The International Cricket Council are looking at it and the other countries are looking at it.”