SA’s top cricketers add to push by Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon for Adelaide Oval to be home of pink ball Tests
Some of SA’s greatest cricketers have added to the call for Adelaide Oval to be the home of day-night Test cricket, saying the wicket simply “suits the pink ball more”.
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Some of South Australia’s greatest cricketing names have added to the call for a return to day-night Test cricket in Adelaide.
It follows the push by Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon on Thursday, who said Adelaide was the one true home of day-night Tests and claim the Gabba pitch produced for the second Test was not fit for purpose after the West Indies mounted a fightback on day one.
From 5-64, the Windies reached 8-266 at stumps after a 149-run sixth-wicket partnership from Kavem Hodge and Joshua Da Silva.
The Test is just the third day-night Test at the Gabba and the first since 2019. Ordinarily the Adelaide Test is the sole pink-ball clash for the home Test summer but a scheduling quirk meant Adelaide hosted a day Test last week.
“From an actual cricketing view, the Adelaide wicket suits the pink ball more,” former Australian fast bowler Chadd Sayers said.
“You’ve seen at the Gabba that it’s taken them this long to get the West Indies out, so clearly there’s something going on.”
Callum Ferguson, who played 30 ODIs for Australia at a batting average of 41, also noted Adelaide’s ability to host a day-night Test better than other states.
“The square and the drop-in wickets have been styled for night cricket over a long period of time,” Ferguson said.
“They’ve got it down to a fine art.”
Wayne B. Phillips, who represented Australia in 27 Tests, favours Adelaide Oval’s “complete” set up.
“(The) access for members and general public, genuine support for the event, and the outstanding playing surface by Damian Hough and his team makes it a wonderful home,” he stated.
The Test at Adelaide Oval has recently developed a reputation for becoming more of a social event than a cricket match, but Ferguson believes that’s the exact reason why South Australia deserves cricket under the lights.
“It’s not just the cricket itself,” he said.
“The way the hill is set up, the way the social scene out in the members is set, it’s the entire package.
“You listen to the players talk about it, you listen to the fans from interstate talk about it. They rave on and on.”
“If there’s going to be one day-night test in the summer then Adelaide should definitely be it given its carnival-like atmosphere,” Sayers said.
Ferguson also paid respect to the late Keith Bradshaw, the man responsible for bringing the day-night Test to fruition.
“Keith Bradshaw’s legacy is worth a mention in this whole discussion. His influence is what’s got us to where we are today,” he said.
Greg Blewett, who played 46 Tests for Australia, also noted Bradshaw’s incredible impact on the cricketing world.
“We were the ones who started it (the day-night Test). It started as a vision and look at what it’s become,” said the Triple M cricket commentator.
Despite a lacklustre affair against the West Indies earlier in the month – with Australia winning just before lunch on Day 3 – Cricket Australia has promised South Australia two blockbuster day-night Tests against India and England from December 2024 onward.
Speaking on ABC Radio after play on Thursday night, off-spinner Lyon – a former Adelaide Oval groundsman before he made his first-class debut with South Australia – said the famous venue was a clear leader when it came to choosing an Australian day-night Test venue.
“I’ll try not to get in trouble,” Lyon said.
“This is just my opinion. The right venue for pink ball Tests is Adelaide Oval and that’s because (of) the contest between bat and ball and the grass left on the wicket. This wicket, I think it would be a brilliant red-ball wicket.”
Gabba curator David Sandurski shaved much of the grass covering off the pitch in a bid to mitigate against another overly bowler-friendly pitch like the one used last summer in which Australia beat South Africa inside two days.
Starc – who took four wickets on day one to go past 350 in Test cricket – said the pitch, which had just 3mm of grass covering, was not optimal for a day-night clash.
“We knew it was gonna be a little bit in with a hard new ball. It’s a pretty good wicket. We know the pink balls get soft at some point and I think that the firmness of this wicket, it started to go soft about the 11th over,” Starc said.
“The ball is what it is. I think it now comes down to the wicket which I think Adelaide’s got right because of the ball and we know it goes soft at certain stages depending on the wicket I think there’s a certain cushion to what they make in Adelaide and just why it’s been such a good Test match, the pink ball Test in Adelaide.
“So I think this week is pretty similar to the game we played Pakistan here with the pink ball (in 2016). In that game as well it went soft very early. There was a lot of dead patches where because it was so soft. It was hard to score, there wasn’t much in it for the bowlers and I think Pakistan got about 450 chasing 490 in the fourth innings so it feels a bit like a similar wicket where it’s probably a bit too firm for the pink ball.
“I think it’d be a fantastic red ball wicket but probably too firm for the pink ball.”
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