Starc not bowled over by use of pink ball

Australia's Mitchell Starc during net sessions. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON • Australia paceman Mitchell Starc has expressed concerns about the pink ball to be used in the first day-night cricket Test, saying it behaved very differently to the usual red ball and crowds might not even be able to see it.

Starc, who was named the player of the World Cup in March, also questioned the efficacy of the format as a measure of a cricketer's career, suggesting night Tests might need to be recorded separately given the vastly different conditions on offer.

The 25-year-old left-armer was involved in a round of trial matches in Australia but he was not convinced by the concept.

"It doesn't react anything like the red ball, in terms of swing and the hardness," he said in England where Australia are preparing for the Ashes.

"It goes soft pretty quickly, I didn't see a huge amount of reverse swing and I don't think it swung too much until the artificial light took over.

"The other thing is I couldn't see the thing at night on the boundary.

"So I'm not sure how the crowd are going to see it."

The first day-night Test will be played between Australia and New Zealand on Nov 27, the third and final match of their series, with administrators hopeful the format can translate to improved crowds and broadcast revenue.

After Tuesday's announcement, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland insisted the ball was ready for use after years of development and testing.

Starc's scepticism was at odds with some of his team-mates, including batsman Steven Smith and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, who both welcomed the initiative.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 02, 2015, with the headline Starc not bowled over by use of pink ball. Subscribe