CA ponders D/N Tests

Cricket Australia (CA) is preparing to defy 130 years of tradition by trialling day-night (D/N) Test matches within three years.
It is a move that will horrify many of the game's conservative fans but one administrators hope will tap into the growing audiences attracted to the one-day and Twenty20 matches that threaten to eclipse the relevance of the five-day game.
The trial will be the biggest revolution to hit the game since Kerry Packer introduced World Series Cricket 30 years ago.
Officials are examining the possibility of scheduling games from 2pm-9pm or 3pm-10pm, and claim the move would allow more people to watch the cricket at the grounds and on television.
Tests, which traditionally begin at 11am and finish at 6pm, always span weekends, but suffer from smaller audiences on weekdays when people work. The day games also miss TV's prime ratings periods.
"We are tossing it around and working out the fundamentals," CA chief executive James Sutherland told this newspaper Wednesday night.
"In a realistic sense we don't see any reason why we can't be at least trialling some day-night Test cricket matches -- not necessarily all of them -- before the end of the decade. It could happen sooner, I don't know. We need to explore that and go through a consultative process."