Floodlit Tests on agenda
The prospect of floodlit Test cricket may come a step closer this week as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee meets at Lord's. One of the main items on the agenda is whether sufficient progress has been made in day-night first-class matches to warrant a trial at the top level.
MCC, who are represented on the committee by chief executive Keith Bradshaw, have been leading the way in experimenting with floodlit first-class cricket by staging two matches against the Champion County in Abu Dhabi. One of the main issues has been finding a suitable ball for the conditions and this year a new version, developed by Kookaburra, was used for the MCC-Nottinghamshire match.
Domestic trials were also carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board and Cricket Australia with many boards around the world looking at ways to boost dwindling Test match attendance.
The committee will also discuss whether any alterations are needed in one-day internationals. Major changes, such as split innings as used in Australian domestic cricket, now appear unlikely after 50-over cricket was shown in a good light at the recent World Cup, but the possible use of two new balls and allowing bowlers more than 10 overs in an innings will be debated.
The Decision Review System (DRS) was used at the World Cup and the committee will evaluate its success and decide whether to recommend its use in all one-day internationals. However, currently it still isn't available in all Test series due to the costs and logistics of getting the required equipment in place.
Although not listed as a topic for discussion, the place of Associates at the 2015 World Cup is unlikely to be far away especially with Trent Johnston, the former Ireland captain, as the Associate representative on the committee. ICC will revisit the decision to limit the 2015 event to the ten Full Member nations during their annual conference in Hong Kong from June 26 to 30 after a fierce backlash from the likes of Ireland and Netherlands.
Comments