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New Zealand day-night Test against South Africa unlikely

by Andrew Wood Thursday 14 January 2016

The experimental round of day-night games in the Plunkett Shield tournament were cancelled citing floodlights issue.

©REUTERS / Action Images

The proposal of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to host a day-night Test against South Africa in 2017 is now termed unlikely after cancelling a round of pink-ball trial games in the Plunkett Shield tournament.

Lindsay Crocker, NZC's head of cricket, confirmed that the round of pink-ball trial games scheduled to be held next month has been cancelled as the floodlights in Napier were not bright enough for the game.

As a result of the cancellation of the experimental round of day-night games in the Plunkett Shield, Crocker feels that the South Africa series will be too early to host a pink-ball Test match.

“My gut is that (South Africa) might be a bit early for us.

“When we schedule an international tour, those sort of things are hammered out well in advance.

“It’s highly likely South Africa, if they were to accept a pink ball test, they would want to make sure it was properly investigated first.

“The more likely outcome is that the first international pink ball game will be beyond next season (in New Zealand).”

There was an attempt to shift the game between Central Stags and Wellington Firebirds to the Westpac stadium to salvage the day-night round but the dates clashed with other events at the ground.

Crocker reasoned that after all the hard work put in by the authorities, they wanted everything to be right for the pink-ball experiment instead of an unsatisfactory trial.

“It’s disappointing but at least we’re making sure we’re doing everything right rather than cobbling together half a round and not being fully satisfied with the trial.

“We’ve invested quite a bit of time and energy and we’re a long way further ahead than we were.

“The players are equally supportive of the concept but they want to see it done right.”

According to the Future Tours Programme, New Zealand are slated to host South Africa for three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 International between February and March 2017.