Test stars enter twilight zone

Australia’s Test stars could get their first taste of pink-ball cricket next summer, with an early round of the 2014-15 Bupa Sheffield Shield season a chance to be played under lights.

Blundstone Arena and the WACA are in the frame to host the fixtures following last season’s initial trial of day-night Shield cricket in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Adelaide, Hobart and Brisbane are viewed as the most likely options to host a day-night Test in Australia. Sydney and Melbourne are not currently considered as likely twilight Test venues due to the marquee status of those events.

Cricket Tasmania chief executive David Johnston confirmed that Blundstone Arena is in line to host a day-night Shield match next summer.

“(Cricket Australia) are trialling a day-night Sheffield Shield game again this year and we think we might get one. It hasn’t been confirmed yet but it is a possibility for Blundstone Arena,” Johnston told News Limited.

“It would be reasonably early in the season with the pink balls again as they (Cricket Australia) want to trial them even further to get more data and statistics on them.”

This second trial furthers Cricket Australia’s ambition to host the first day-night Test match against New Zealand in 2015-16, and these first-class matches are seen as important steps in order to collect more feedback and fine-tune the playing conditions to meet Test match standards.

Quick single: Day-night Test cricket on track

Round nine of last summer’s Shield season trialled the new playing conditions for the first time and was met with positive feedback from players and officials.

This summer the trial is expected to take place prior to the Test season and the KFC T20 Big Bash League break, potentially allowing Australia representatives a chance to feature.

This could give Michael Clarke his first look at the day-night format, after the Australian captain recently voiced his opinion on the potential revamp of the five-day game.

"I've never experienced Test cricket at night so I don't know what it's like ... but I don't believe we need to have day-night Test cricket, for Test cricket to survive,” Clarke told ESPNcricinfo earlier this month.

“I think if you've watched any Test cricket over the last 12 months, there would have been a lot of people off their chairs watching the game. So long may that continue, during the day or at night."

Clarke admitted that without having played in a day-night fixture it would be hard to predict its success.

"I'd have to try it first. I don't think it would be fair or right for me to sit here and say yes or no (to playing a day-night Test)," he said.

"I think I need to experience it, probably at first-class level, before I could comment on that."

Quick single: The good and bad of the pink ball

Last season's day-night round produced a defiant draw by the Commonwealth Bank Victorian Bushrangers at the MCG, a comprehensive victory to the XXXX Gold Queensland Bulls in Brisbane, and a thrilling finish in Adelaide where the New South Wales Blues held on with one wicket remaining to steal a draw against the West End Redbacks.

NSW spinner Stephen O’Keefe featured in the epic Adelaide Oval draw, and said a minor concern around replacing a damaged ball was the only negative in an overall positive experience.

"The ball that we came back out with would have only been about 20-to-25 overs old, which changed the perspective of the game," he said.

"It was a lot harder, it came onto the bat a lot nicer. It's certainly an issue that has to be looked at to maintain equality in the game.

"Other than that, I think it hasn’t been as big a factor as people thought it might be, so in that way I guess it's a positive. It’s not a whole lot different.

“Once you’re out there you just see a ball coming at you and try to make good decisions.”

CA chief executive James Sutherland concedes the ball continues to be the major issue in playing twilight cricket, suggesting a slight rule change could be the compromise moving forward.

“We clearly need to continue to improve the ball and to make sure it behaves as closely as possible to the red ball,” Sutherland told cricket.com.au in April.

“But I have always said that somewhere along the way – in order to get to that outcome – it may be necessary to reach some sort of compromise on the ball.

“Perhaps what ball is used, how it’s used and maybe for how long it’s used in an innings – whether 80 overs is the right time for a ball to last, or whatever?

“They are all things we’ll take into account as we gather the feedback and other data from the trials.”