As expected -
Pink ball snookers Test plan
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6860195.ece
PLANS for England to stage the first floodlit Test match next year have been abandoned after two counties refused to try the pink ball in the final round of the championship
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The MCC had been keen to turn the Lord’s Test against Bangladesh in May into a day-nighter to boost appeal, but without a successful trial the International Cricket Council would refuse to sanction such a change.
Giles Clarke, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said it was too late for the match to be made a day-nighter. “It needs a proper series of trials and that cannot now be done in time. Playing a Test in anything but white clothing is also an issue.”
John Stephenson, the MCC’s assistant secretary, said: “There’s always resistance to change. We have got to find a ball that’s durable and that really is the sticking point. Until we’ve trialled it in a three or four-day match, we won’t know for sure.”
Durham and Worcestershire were asked to test the pink ball — reckoned the most visible alternative to a red one under lights — in their four-day match at New Road, but both said no. “I was not keen,” said Durham’s coach, Geoff Cook. “It was a first-class match and I thought we should retain the game’s integrity.”
The pink ball was tested in the 20-overs national club final and was deemed a success, although catches were dropped, suggesting that fielders might have had problems seeing the ball.
The biggest question is whether any ball other than the red one can last 80 overs.