We are not too keen on playing in the proposed day-night Test match: AB de Villiers

South Africa’s Test captain AB de Villiers has voiced concerns over the day-night match in Adelaide, saying that the team is not too keen on playing the pink ball Test. The news comes just a day after Head of the South African players’ association, Tony Irish, said that the team is unlikely to accept the offer of the tour match.

South Africa is set to tour Australia later this year. The tour will begin at Perth and then move to Hobart. The 3rd Test of the series has been allotted to Adelaide between November 24 and 28, according to the 2016-17 summer fixtures released by Cricket Australia, but there is no confirmation yet on whether this will be a day-night game.

The series of great importance for the teams as the No. 1 Test ranking will be at stake. De Villiers states that a day-night game could be “fundamental change” to the schedule.

“At the moment, we are not too keen on playing in the proposed day-night Test match due to a few concerns that have come from a number of sources involved in the maiden Test played last year,” he told Independent Media.

“We had a meeting with Steven Smith and some of the Australian players when they toured here earlier this year, and the consensus from our talks were that there are just too many unknowns. Players from both teams were reluctant to go ahead with it.

“South Africa and Australia have a great cricketing rivalry, and this is a series that we value. We could well be playing for an opportunity to regain the No.1 Test ranking, so playing a day-night match is a fundamental change to the itinerary.

The first ever day-night Test, between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide last year, was dominated by quick bowlers and ended in three days with a three-wicket win for the hosts. De Villiers raised doubts about the durability of the pink ball used in the format and said that alterations to the pitch, to reduce wear and tear on the ball, were also a significant factor.

“The pink ball has had some issues with how it responds to 80 overs of Test cricket and that is one of the key issues that we feel plays a big role in the success of the day-night Test,” De Villiers said. “The pitch also had to be ‘doctored’ to minimize the abrasive wear and tear to the pink ball, which seems to happen quicker than the red ball, and this is also an area we feel is a big factor in the run of play.”

Cricket Australia offered a tour game for the South Africans to prepare for the Day-Night fixtures but De Villiers doesn’t believe that a practice match could help his side adjust to the pink ball.

“I don’t think it (warm-up game) will. I don’t think it’s something that you acclimatize to in one match and the intensity of an international cricket match also brings in other factors which are hard to replicate in a warm-up match.”

South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, meanwhile, said he is keen to play a day-night Test in his career.

“I don’t want to go through my whole career without playing a day-night game,” Steyn told cricket.com.au in Rajkot where he is playing the IPL . “How cool are they? I thought it looked awesome when New Zealand and Australia played one. It looked entertaining, there was a big crowd. The ball is pink – it’s something different. You want to test your skills with that whole thing and it’s very exciting.”

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