Australia and New Zealand will play the first ever day-night Test under lights with a pink ball in November at the Adelaide Oval, according to a report.
The historic event on November 27 will be the third Test of a three-match series against the Black Caps on Australian soil this summer and will be the first to be played under lights and with a pink Kookaburra ball.
The match headlines a six-Test summer schedule released by Cricket Australia on Monday, with the series against New Zealand followed by three Tests against West Indies that includes the marquee Boxing Day and New Year’s matches.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the day-night Test puts fans first, with more spectators able to attend or watch on television.
“One of the global challenges with Test cricket is that most of the matches outside holiday periods are played on week days, in the middle of the day when people are at work and kids are at school,” Sutherland was quoted as saying by www. cricket.com.au.
“By shifting the playing times each day’s play can go into the evening and allow people to come in after work or after school to attend the last few hours of play, but also when they get home in other parts of the world or other parts of the country, they can watch the game on TV,” he said.
A start time for the day-night Test is still under consideration and not yet confirmed, but one possible scenario would see play start at 2.30 p.m. and run until 9.30 p.m. Adelaide time. That would mean play would be from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Melbourne and Sydney, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Brisbane, noon to 7 p.m. in Perth and 5 p.m. to midnight in New Zealand.
