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VVS Laxman: Pink-ball cricket wonderful move from BCCI

I believe sport is all about evolution; you have to be careful not to remain stagnant and static at a time when there are so many options available, writes VVS Laxman.

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VVS Laxman (left) with Sourav Ganguly ahead of the first-ever pink-ball cricket match in India © AFP
VVS Laxman (left) with Sourav Ganguly ahead of the first-ever pink-ball cricket match in India © AFP

Pink-ball day-night cricket has made its debut in India, and I must congratulate Sourav Ganguly and the rest of his team at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), and the ground staff, for having provided conditions that made for an exciting final to the Super League.

Plenty of discussions in recent times have centred on whether Test cricket needs to move from its traditional format to playing under lights with a pink ball. I believe sport is all about evolution; you have to be careful not to remain stagnant and static at a time when there are so many options available to the fans across sports and other disciplines, and if we are to ensure that the interest of the fans returns to Test cricket, then we must do everything possible without compromising on quality.

It is no secret that audiences for Test cricket in most parts of the world have declined alarmingly in the last few years. At a time when the longest format is under some threat particularly from the 20-over game, it is imperative that we work out ways of keeping the fans engaged. That is where day-night Test cricket will help; I am firmly convinced of that. Of course, I understand it is work in progress, but unless you try things out, you will never get better, will you?

As a player, I loved playing in front of big crowds. An artist needs a stage to perform, he needs some form of appreciation, and while the eventual bigger goal is to win games for the team, there is a certain disappointment when you play in front of empty stands.

What day-night cricket will do is allow people who might be occupied during the day — at work, or at school or college, or at running things at home — an opportunity to go to the ground in the evening and partake in a wonderful experience. In this day and age, even if you have the desire and the passion, other commitments can sometimes keep you away from the ground during the day. By providing this audience group the opportunity to do what they have to do during the day and still be in a position to go over to the ground after that is a wonderful initiative which I am sure will be welcomed.

The other factor, of course, is viewership on television. Again, the same argument as mentioned above applies. Even if you do not have the energy to go to the ground at the end of a long hard day, you can still put your feet up at home, in your living room, and watch quality Test cricket on the television.

From all accounts, the only day-night Test to date, at the Adelaide Oval between Australia and New Zealand last year, was an overwhelming success. Even though the match only lasted three days — and we will come to that a little later — more than 1,20,000 people thronged the venue, and the television viewership numbers were equally impressive. That has to be seen as extremely encouraging.

Also, we saw during the Adelaide Test that plenty of thought was given towards getting the fans more involved in the action. It was not just about the novelty of the pink ball; there were fan zones and interactive offerings that were quite exciting. All in all, it provided for a carnival-like atmosphere. Test cricket is serious business, but it does not mean that you should not have fun watching it! And there is no greater fun than watching it with family and friends, an evening out, a different experience.

Which brings us to the ball. After experimenting with various colours, the principal stakeholders have hit upon pink as the most visible colour at night, under lights. The ball manufacturers have also gone through the gamut when it comes to the seam, and have now hit upon black as the most optimum colour. As a batsman, it is extremely important that you have a good view of the seam, because the revs of the seam give you a fair indication of what the ball is going to do. If you have difficulty spotting the seam, you could lose that fraction of a second which, from a batsman’s perspective, can be disastrous.

I was at the Eden Gardens just before the four-day final between Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore Club began, and I also faced up to a few deliveries. Even though they were not sent down at great speed — I am retired now for nearly four years! — I could spot the ball quite clearly, I could pick up the seam and therefore I was in a position to assess whether it was going to swing, and which way.

Of course, as we saw during the game, because the outfield was lush green and the pitch had plenty of grass,grass; the shine on both sides of the ball was equal. The additional lacquer to help the ball maintain its colour assisted swing bowling more than the red or white ball might, but it was conventional swing and not of the reverse variety.

Furthermore, because Kookaburra has made the seam of the pink ball more prominent between the Adelaide Test and now, there was more bounce to be had when the bowlers hit the seam. As a batsman, you always thrive on bounce, so there was an opportunity to score runs also, but there is no doubt that as things stand now; there is a definite advantage for faster bowlers.

Which is our next point of discussion? Why is it that the faster bowlers benefit? The fact is that the ball manufacturers believe that ideally, for the pink ball to retain its colour and hence its visibility, there must be 5-6 mm grass on the playing surface. To me, that is a big area that needs to be addressed.

One of the challenges of Test cricket is that you play on different pitches in different parts of the world. For a ball to dictate the nature of the track does not somehow resonate well with me. If every time you must have 6 mm grass when you are playing a day-night Test, the glorious uncertainty of the great game is taken out of the equation. The ball must not be the basis for the appearance and nature of the pitch, but I am sure, further efforts are underway to ensure that these limitations are addressed and we work towards a situation where it is not just the faster bowlers who are in the mix, but also the spinners, and that there is an even contest between bat and ball.

I think the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deserves a pat for having recognised that it must play the lead role, given its stature at the global level, to protect and further the primacy of Test cricket. The very fact that India will be playing 17 Tests in the next nine months, and 13 of them at home between October 2016 and March 2017, shows how BCCI is promoting Test cricket. The move to play the Duleep Trophy under lights, with almost all of India’s top players involved, is an excellent beginning. It will throw up more pointers about what the experience is like, there will be greater feedback to work with, and with a change in conditions, there will also be a better idea of what the challenges are that need to be addressed.

One of those challenges will be the dew. Both in Adelaide and in Kolkata, the dew was not a factor at all. I am reasonably certain that that will not be the case during the Duleep Trophy in September. How the pink ball acquits itself to the dew, and what hardships it will cause the bowlers especially, will be watched with great interest. It will also tell us how the ground realities are when it comes to day-night Test cricket in India, and how close we are to play that game.

Having begun this piece with the need to promote Test cricket innovatively, it is fitting that I also end it on that note. Apart from the pink-ball initiative, BCCI has also announced six new Test venues in India at tier two centres. That is a wonderful move. Facilities at these new Test venues are second to none, so there is no compromise when it comes to the players and to playing conditions. At the same time, people who have only watched Test cricket on television or have had to travel long distances to watch at the ground can now see their favourite stars in flesh and blood in their own backyard.

That is an exciting development which, along with the pink-ball impetus, reiterates the BCCI’s commitment towards the Test format. I hope fans in these new centres will come to watch absorbing Test cricket.

(VVS Laxman, CricketCountry’s Chief Cricket Mentor, remains one of the finest and most elegant batsmen in history. He was part of the iconic Indian middle-order for over a decade and a half and played 134 Tests and 86 ODIs. He tweets at @vvslaxman281)

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