Cricket "took another step on the path to night Test matches" on Sunday when pink balls "had their first full-scale screen test" at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, according to Andrew Faulkner of THE AUSTRALIAN.
As the proposed November night Test looms ever closer, Channel 9’s cameras "filmed pink ball trials before and after the Australia-India ODI." The trial "will gauge how the ball looks on camera to feed more information into the growing pink ball database." Nine Head of Sport Steve Crawley said that "the trial was simply routine, to 'make sure everyone is comfortable.'" Crawley "was confident cricket was at last on the cusp of cracking the night cricket code." He said, "If they can put a man on the moon then they can find a ball for day-night Test cricket. I think it was only ever a matter of time. You just can’t stand still." The venue for November’s day/night Test against New Zealand "is a race in three between Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart."
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said that all three state associations were "very keen" to win the Test because it "would be a boon for any state or any venue" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/19).
