Int'l Cricket Council CEO David Richardson admitted that cricket has "yet to find a solution to the problem of bad lighting bringing games to an unsatisfactory conclusion, but played down the possibility of using a yellow ball," according to Richard Hobson of the LONDON TIMES. Richardson was speaking after bad lighting "halted England's charge for victory in the first Test against Pakistan on Saturday." Richardson said that players had been "offered the option of playing under floodlights but rejected it because they believed that such regulations could lead to unfair results." The first day/night Test is "due to be staged in Australia against New Zealand next month with a pink ball" and Richardson is "pinning his hopes" on that color of ball enabling more five-day games to be played under lights. Richardson: "If we can use it for day/night cricket, and it stays in decent enough condition and doesn't change the game too much, we can use it in the long term for all Tests." Richardson also suggested that India's stance on decision-review technology "was softening." Currently the Board of Control for Cricket in India "will not allow use of the decision review system" in matches involving its cricketers -- a position that has "prevented the technology being rolled out as a matter of course" (LONDON TIMES, 10/19). In London, Ali Martin reported it was the second time in two years that England had a late run chase "cut short by bad light despite the floodlights being on," with the Oval Test in '13 against Australia "called to a halt when they were 21 runs short of their target before being taken off." Aware of the damaging affect to the game’s image of "such unsatisfactory finishes," the ICC "sounded teams out about agreeing to play on in such situations." Richardson said, "There’s no doubt that it’s one of those issues cricket has been faced with historically, and we’ve not really found a solution to it" (GUARDIAN, 10/19).
