Pink Ball Tests here to stay: David White

The survival of the five-day game has come under questionable doubt following the success of the shorter formats of the game. However, New Zealand board’s chief executive David White has said that the players will have to embrace playing with the pink ball in order to preserve the longer format of the game.

The first Test played in 1877 between England and Australia was timeless and played at the vast expanse of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. At the moment, Test cricket is a 5-day game. The transformation is clear, and with the lights coming in, the transformation of cricket’s most traditional format seems to be complete.

Australia and New Zealand made history at Adelaide by becoming the first teams to play with the pink ball.

“I think the players will be very supportive going forward, (day-night Test cricket) is essential for the survival of the format, to be honest,” he told Radio Sport.

“It provides an opportunity for the game to be more accessible to the fans and we’ve got to listen to them, they drive the revenue, they drive the game,” he said. “We’ve got to uphold the traditions of the game — I’m as traditional as anyone — but we’ve got to look to the future as well.”

“I think it’s inevitable that we’ll play a lot more day-night cricket over the coming years,” he said.

“They realise that they have got an issue with their crowds at Test match cricket,” he said.”While T20 and one-day cricket are huge, they do struggle to get big crowds for Test matches.”

“To play in front of a full house in India in a Test match would be pretty special,” he said.

NZ is considering playing d/n Test in India – New Zealand Cricket considering day-night Test in India