Cricket Australia clarifies what caused Adelaide Oval's blackout during India vs Australia Pink-Ball Test

The opening day of the pink-ball Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval witnessed an unusual disruption with a brief blackout caused by floodlight failure. Cricket Australia (CA) later issued a statement saying that the incident occurred due to an internal switching issue.

The floodlight failure occurred twice during the first day’s play, briefly stopping the action. The initial interruption lasted 28 seconds during the 18th over of Australia’s innings, while the second incident caused a longer delay of 86 seconds. Players, commentators, and spectators were surprised by the surprising stoppage. Fans switched on their phone torches, turning the darkened stadium into a light show.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, the Australian team had requested the activation of net lights for an evening training session. However, in a mix-up in the control room at the top of the Western Stand, the stadium's four main light towers were accidentally switched off instead.

“We had a brief internal switching issue that was quickly identified and rectified. They went out to turn on the net lights so the night watchman could have a couple of throwdowns, and somehow either turned them to the wrong thing or something tripped," Cricket Australia said in a statement.

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Quite unusual for it to go out twice: Mitchell Starc

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who had earlier grabbed the headlines with a six-wicket haul, opened up on the rarity of such an occurrence. 

“It was quite unusual for it to go out twice in a short space of time,” Starc said after the end of day’s play.

South Australian MP Tom Koutsantonis clarified that the incident was unrelated to the state’s power grid, emphasizing it was purely a control room error. “Whatever caused the light towers at Adelaide Oval to turn off was not related to a lack of power supply from the grid,” he tweeted,

Adelaide Oval’s recently upgraded AUD 5 million LED lighting system was installed in late 2023 to ensure energy efficiency and quicker resumption in case of outages. Thankfully, this modern system allowed play to resume fast, unlike older setups that could have caused extended delays.