13 May,2011 06:43 AM IST | | AFP
International Cricket Council (ICC) chiefs believe floodlit, day/night Tests could take place in the next few years but insist more work needs to be done on the ball before they give the go-ahead. A traditional red leather ball is difficult to see under floodlights, while the white ball used for day/night ODI doesn't wear at the same rate and so is considered unsuitable for longer formats.
Finding a suitable ball has so far proved the key stumbling block, with David Richardson, the ICC's general manager for cricket, told reporters at Lord's here yesterday: "We have spent a lot of time over the last 24 months trying to develop a ball. Now we've crystallised that there's not much difference between the pink and orange balls and it was a question of finding a ball that could retain its colour throughout 50-80 overs."
Officials at MCC believe they have found a solution to the ball problem by developing a pink ball with a black seam. This ball was used during their first-class match against England's champion county, Nottinghamshire, in March ufffd the traditional curtain-raiser to the English season which for the second successive year took place in the non-traditional setting of Abu Dhabi rather than Lord's itself.
