Statistics reveal Australia’s best pink-ball cricketers

As Australia took their first look at Kookaburra's newest pink cricket ball on Wednesday evening and prepared for yet another change of format this summer, coach Justin Langer said readying his players for a return to day-night cricket is about an evolution rather than a revolution.

The second Domain Test against Pakistan in Adelaide, starting on Friday, will be the first of Australia's two back-to-back Tests played with a pink ball, with the series opener against New Zealand in Perth next month to also be played under lights.

Australia have played more day-night Tests than any other nation but their night training session in Adelaide on Wednesday was, for most players, their first exposure to a pink ball since their Test against Sri Lanka late January.

And for Steve Smith and David Warner, whose last first-class game at night was the 2017 Adelaide Test against England, it had been even longer.

On Tuesday, Smith spoke about the unique set of challenges that playing under lights and using a ball of a different hue presents compared to traditional red-ball cricket, from visibility issues to the tendency of the pink Kookaburra to be docile during daylight hours and misbehave under floodlights.

But while there's been a clear distinction between Australia's Test and one-day teams for more than two decades, such is the difference in skills required for the two formats, Langer doesn't foresee a similar split between Australia's red- and pink-ball Test teams.

Rather, in a summer that has already seen his players move from T20s to one-dayers, from four-day games to Test matches, in domestic and international cricket, Langer says the switch from red ball to pink is just another example of his players needing to evolve.

"It's just adjusting," Langer said. "The only difference is the different colour and the best players adapt to it. I can't see that (a specialist pink-ball team) happening.

"They've got to adapt to a red ball, a pink ball and white ball. They've got to adapt to Test cricket, four-day cricket, one-day cricket, and T20 cricket.

"The best players are able to do that, and the best teams are able to do that."

A closer inspection of the numbers from Australian cricket's latest venture into day-night first-class cricket support Langer's belief that the leading red-ball players are also the best under lights.

Of the 10 leading Australian run-scorers in day-night first-class cricket since the latest pink-ball concept was introduced in early 2014, eight have played Test cricket in the past year (the exceptions are the retired Ed Cowan and Victoria's Travis Dean, who has played just one first-class match this season).

And three members of Australia's four-man bowling attack at the Gabba last week, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, are among the four leading Australian wicket-takers in first-class pink-ball cricket, while Pat Cummins has 15 dismissals at an average of just 16 in the three day-night games he's played.

Unsurprisingly, it's Smith who has been the standout Australian batsman in cricket's newest format. Among the top-10 first-class run-scorers against the pink ball, his 795 runs at 61.15 puts him at the front of the pack on batting averages, marginally ahead of Dean (464 runs at 58) and recent Test discards Shaun Marsh (580 runs at 58), Usman Khawaja (928 at 54.59) and Peter Handscomb (813 at 50.81).

NSW left-hander Kurtis Patterson is the eighth-highest first-class run-scorer with 486 at 40.50, a tally that doesn't include his two unbeaten centuries in a tour game against Sri Lanka earlier this year, which wasn't granted first-class status because the touring side fielded more than 11 players. If that match was to be counted, Patterson's pink-ball record would swell to 745 runs at an average of 57.31.

While most of the leading pink-ball run-scorers have also thrived against the red ball, there are statistical outliers that indicate some batsmen have far been more prolific under lights. Among them are Cowan (who averaged 54.11 with the bat in day-night cricket compared to 41.89 across his whole career), Dean (58.00 compared to 29.68), Tasmania's Beau Webster (54.00 and 27.50) and NSW and Queensland opener Scott Henry, whose only two first-class centuries in his 36-game career have come against the pink ball (average of 60.33 compared to 28.41).

The incomparable Smith aside, the majority of Australia's anticipated top seven for the Adelaide Test have a slightly lower batting average in pink-ball cricket compared to the rest of their first-class careers; Warner averages 40, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Matthew Wade in the mid-to-low 30s, while Tim Paine's average against the pink ball is 21.50 from 10 first-class innings.

Opener Joe Burns, on the other hand, has 321 runs at an average of 18.88 from nine pink-ball matches, a tally that includes a century for Queensland at the Gabba in 2016 against a NSW bowling attack that included Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon.

As with the batting numbers, there are some Australian domestic cricketers – such as WA duo Jason Behrendorff (23 wickets at 17.22) and Simon Mackin (20 wickets at 15.65) as well as NSW spinner Steve O'Keefe (18 wickets at 18.22) - who could lay claim to being pink-ball specialists.

But the bowling quartet that are expected to lead the Test attack again this week are statistically even more potent with the pink ball than they are the red, and boast the best day-night records in the country.

Starc (52 wickets at 18.96), Hazlewood (36 at 19.69) and Lyon (29 at 27.55) are separated at the top of the pink-ball wicket-taking charts by only Tasmania's Jackson Bird (31 at 25.10), while uncapped Queensland swing bowler Michael Neser – who was included in Australia's 15-man squad two weeks ago with the Adelaide Test in mind – has 21 wickets at 27.86 from six games.

"You've got to have different strategies in place to almost play the game the way it needs to be played," says Smith, who has played seven pink-ball matches in his career, including four Tests as captain.

"Sometimes it can be really difficult to bat at night. During the day if the ball gets a bit soft, it can be hard to take wickets. So you have to have strategies in place.

"As a batter … if you get in when the ball is soft, it's about cashing in. When it's hard and the ball is swinging and seaming around, it's about being really disciplined for those times.

"(It's about) knowing the tempos of the game."

And in Smith, Langer says Australia's batsmen have no better example to follow as they again switch their focus to cricket's latest revolutionary format.

"He's the best problem-solver in the world," Langer said of his star batsman.

"If they want to be great like Steve Smith, they have to become great problem solvers."

Australians in day-night first-class cricket (since 2014)

Most runs

Usman Khawaja – 10 matches, 928 runs at 54.59, three centuries

Peter Handscomb – 10 matches, 813 runs at 50.81, three centuries

Steve Smith – 7 matches, 795 runs at 61.15, three centuries

Shaun Marsh – 6 matches, 580 runs at 58.00, three centuries

David Warner – 7 matches, 567 runs at 40.50, one century

Marcus Harris – 9 matches, 507 runs at 33.80, two centuries

Ed Cowan – 5 matches, 487 runs at 54.11, two centuries

Kurtis Patterson* – 7 matches, 486 runs at 40.50, two centuries

Travis Dean - 5 matches, 464 runs at 58.00, two centuries

Cameron Bancroft – 9 matches, 460 runs at 28.75, one century

Most wickets

Mitchell Starc – 9 matches, 52 wickets at 18.96

Josh Hazlewood – 7 matches, 36 wickets at 19.69

Jackson Bird – 6 matches, 31 wickets at 25.10

Nathan Lyon – 9 matches, 29 wickets at 27.55

Scott Boland – 6 matches, 25 wickets at 22.64

Jason Behrendorff – 4 matches, 23 wickets at 17.22

Chadd Sayers – 5 matches, 23 wickets at 20.17

Chris Tremain – 5 matches, 22 wickets at 27.36

Michael Neser – 6 matches, 21 wickets at 27.86

Fawad Ahmed – 5 matches, 21 wickets at 24.52

* Does not include the CA XI v Sri Lanka match in Hobart in 2019, which was not a first-class game

Australia's Test squad in day-night first-class cricket

David Warner - 567 runs at 40.50

Joe Burns - 321 at 18.88

Marnus Labuschagne - 430 at 35.83

Steve Smith – 795 at 61.15

Travis Head - 354 at 32.18

Matthew Wade – 249 at 31.13

Tim Paine – 215 at 21.50

Pat Cummins – 15 wickets at 16.07

Mitchell Starc - 52 wickets at 18.96

Nathan Lyon - 29 wickets at 27.55

Josh Hazlewood – 36 wickets at 19.69

Michael Neser – 21 wickets at 27.86

James Pattinson – 4 wickets at 26.75

Cameron Bancroft – 460 runs at 28.75

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

First Test: Australia won by an innings and five runs.

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)