Pink balls are back in regional cricket

(WICB) St John’s, Antigua – Four matches in the West Indies Cricket Board Regional 4 Day Tournament will be played with pink balls and as day/night fixtures in the 2012 season.

Each of the seven participating teams will play at least one day/night fixture in the 24 match tournament which commences February 3rd and concludes on April 10th.

In accordance with a decision taken by the Board of Directors of the WICB all matches will be played at the international venues in the host territories except when Combined Campuses and Colleges host matches. The CCC home games will be played at the 3Ws Oval at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.

The decision to play at the international venues is to ensure that regional players have experience playing at these venues.

The WICB introduced pink balls to 4 day cricket in 2010 when matches of this duration were played under lights in the Caribbean for the first time. In 2010 four matches were played as day/night fixtures with the first being at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds in Antigua when Trinidad and Tobago faced Guyana.

West Indies and Trinidadian opener Lendl Simmons scored the first century under lights when he struck 104 in the Trinidad and Tobago first innings.

His countryman, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin also made a century in that innings.