A day after the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced it would introduce selected day-night matches for its forthcoming regional first-class tournament, International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan said yesterday he expected a similar move for Tests within two years.
“Eighteen months ago I wouldn’t have been overly enthusiastic about this, thinking of tradition and records but Test cricket has changed over 130 years and there are now very good reasons for bringing crowds out,” Morgan, former head of the England board, said.
“I’d be surprised if we don’t see day-night Test cricket within the next two years – surprised and disappointed”, he added.
He asserted that the ICC regards Test cricket as “the pinnacle of the game…the form cricketers seek to play” but it had seen generally declining attendances.
“The ICC has recognised that in some countries Test cricket is not that popular in terms of people paying at the gate,” he noted. “If you look at a country like Australia with big stadia and very hot conditions, it’s made for day-night Test cricket.”
He felt there was no reason why day-night Tests wouldn’t be attractive in England like the one-day and Twenty20 formats. Declining “spectator interest” was also the rationale behind the WICB’s decision to schedule four day-night matches, using an improved pink ball, in the annual first-class programme that starts January 8. Chief executive Ernest Hilaire pointed out that the aim was “to bring the game back to the fans.”
“We believe the new format of having day/night cricket in the four-day tournament will help to generate public interest and also be a winner with the players and officials,” he said.
