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Dale Steyn eager to play day-night Tests

by Sandeep Shivam Wednesday 20 April 2016

Dale Steyn believes a first-class day-night game can aid the Proteas in their preparation.

©REUTERS / Action Images

South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn stated that he is very eager to take part in a day-night Test match and feels that a first-class match is all it will take for the players to get accustomed to the idea.

Currently Cricket Australia are in talks with Cricket South Africa to conduct a day-night Test in Adelaide during the upcoming tour in November.

However, many South African players, including their captain AB de Villiers, have expressed concerns over the day-night Test format as they lack experience and have their doubts about the pink ball.

Nevertheless, Steyn stated that he wants to play a day-night game in his career and said that bowling with the pink ball will be an exciting challenge.

“I don’t want to go through my whole career without playing a day-night game,” Steyn told cricket.com.au exclusively in Rajkot.

“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.”

However, Steyn also clarified that he understands why the South African players are not very eager to play a day-night Test in a high-profile series against Australia.

“The difficult part of it comes in if it’s one-all and we go into a decider and we play a Test match we’ve never really played before, we’ve never used the pink ball before,” Steyn said.

“That could be a little bit of an issue for the guys.

“Australia, having played one before and having played a few first-class games, would have the upper hand on us in that sense.

“We’re not moaning about it; it would just not be a level playing field.”

Earlier this week, the South African players’ association Chief Executive Tony Irish stated that the Proteas were reluctant to pursue the idea of playing day-night Test during the tour of Australia as they have never played a game with the pink-ball.

Despite the lack of experience, Steyn feels that if the South African players can play a first-class match under the lights with the pink ball, they will get accustomed to the idea.

“I think maybe even one game so the boys can get accustomed to it.

“You can practice as much as you want in the nets but when you get out into the middle and there’s pressure and all that kind of stuff you do tend to play differently.

“One first-class game, maybe two first-class games and it think the boys will be extremely into it.

“Right now I’m leaving it to CSA and for them to make a decision, but to be honest with you I’d love to play one.”

The South Africa tour of Australia in November will consist of three Test matches which will be played in Perth, Hobart and Adelaide respectively.