Night Test match was more than a century in the making

When the lights finally come on over a Test match in Adelaide tonight it will be historic moment

The lights go on for the first time at the SCG in 1978.

Cricket history will be made today in Adelaide when Australia meet New Zealand for the first ever day/night Test match. Since the floodlights were turned on for the first time in the 1970s we have grown used to limited-over matches played under the lights, but Test cricket has remained staunchly diurnal, scurrying off the field once the daylight begins to fail.

But declining Test crowds have encouraged traditionalists to see the light. It is hoped the experimental day/night match using a pink ball will inject new interest into the game by allowing daytime workers to attend the later sessions or watch the game live on TV.

It could be an inspired ploy that will bring the crowds back, but it has taken Test cricket a long time to catch on.

Sport of all kinds has been played under lights for well over a century, with the first cricket match played under the glare of lights more than 60 years ago.

A 1935 picture by General Electric showing their lighting of Crossley Field, Cincinatti, Ohio.

The invention of the electric light in the 19th century got many people excited about the possibilities of dispelling the darkness.

The first public demonstrations of arc lamps were great social occasions in the 1840s and 50s. By the 1860s arc lamps were being used to light up fetes, carnivals, public meetings and other outdoor events. The first sports events under lights may well have been egg-and-spoon races and tug-of-war.

Sydney saw its first display of artificial daylight in 1863 when an arc lamp was lit up on Observatory Hill to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales. By the 1870s the lights were being used to extend working hours on public works with a tight deadline.

In 1878 arc lamps helped build the Garden Palace in Sydney in time for the 1879 Exposition.

It was only a matter of time before enterprising sports organisations began using electric lights to hold events at times other than weekends in the daylight.

Spectators were scarce at this WSC night game at VFL Park in 1977.

In 1878 the Prince of Wales attended possibly the first organised sporting match under lights, when Ranelagh Polo club played Hurlingham in Fulham under “electric chinese lanterns”. It was considered something of a novelty and the experiment wasn’t immediately repeated.

In 1879 the Melbourne Cricket Ground was lit up for a “grand football match” between the East Melbourne Artillery Corps and the Collingwood Rifle Corps.

Played badly in the feeble light, the match was a draw but the event turned a profit and led to an exhibition match between Carlton and Melbourne. This time a white ball was used but it exploded during the game and the players had to resort to a tan ball, difficult to see under the lights. The promoters lost money on the second game and switched off the lights on Australian rules until 1952.

The Americans also experimented with lights, playing their first baseball game at night in September 1880,
at Strawberry Hill, about 80km outside Boston.

It was a demonstration of the benefits of electric light, this time organised by the Electric Light Company, and featured teams made up of employees from Boston department stores. The major leagues were not impressed and they didn’t introduce regular night games until the 1930s.

It was not until 1952 that the first organised cricket match was played at night. It was a relatively unimportant game between Middlesex County Cricket Club and Arsenal Football Club, played as a benefit match, at Arsenal’s Highbury stadium which had been fitted out with lights in 1951 and hosted football matches. More than a million people tuned in to the telecast.

But while viewers had grown to enjoy watching live night-time football, cricket traditionalists were not convinced that it was the way to go with their game.

Kerry Packer, pictured at VFL Park in 1977, was instrumental in introducing Australians to day/night cricket.

Then along came Kerry Packer in the 1970s with his plan to revolutionise the sport with the introduction of World Series Cricket (WSC).

Packer wanted to make cricket television friendly, so he gave players coloured uniforms, improved camera angles and, more importantly, scheduled part of the matches for the evening, prime time on television.

The first day/night match took place 38 years ago today on November 27, 1977, at Adelaide Oval, as part of a WSC program of one-day games and “Supertests” played between WSC teams from Australia, West Indies and the Rest of the World.

The first games pulled dismally small crowds of about 2000, but an advertising campaign sold the public on the convenience of night cricket.

When the Sydney Cricket Ground hosted its first day/night match, a one-day international between Australia and the West Indies on November 28, 1978, about 50,000 people turned up to the game. Night games have remained popular ever since.

Originally published as Night Test match was more than a century in the making