How a day-night Test and a pink ball could help England level the Ashes
On Thursday morning, cricket fans in the UK will be able to tune in to the last few hours of live coverage of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
Why? Because this year it is a day-night Test match. Play between England and Australia gets underway at 4am UK time and is set to conclude at around 11am.
Of the 16 day-night Test matches to have been played since their introduction in 2015, Australia have hosted eight of them and won all eight.
That makes this second Test a dead cert for the Baggy Greens, right? Well, not quite.
While just two of the 16 day-night Tests have been won by away teams, both Sri Lanka, the data shows that matches in Australia aren’t quite as simple as that.
The Australians like a day-night Test because the long, warm nights by the coast are suited to drawing spectators to an evening of cricket.
On the pitch, however, the statistics are fascinating. We are yet to see a draw in men’s day-night Tests and the five-day event generally presents more of a challenge to batters.
In Australia’s first seven day-night Tests – the eighth has been excluded because of the freak 36 all out for India – the batting average was 28.04. This is down on the usual average of 36.94 in the country.
There is little change between the averages batters achieve off spinners when comparing day-night Tests to the usual format, but with seamers the average does drop by around 25 per cent.
The ball itself can scare the Aussies too, especially against England. The traditional ball used in Australia is the Kookaburra, which swings a lot less than the Dukes ball England use at home. But the pink day-night ball is closer to a Dukes than a Kookaburra, and so it should swing a little more like it would in England.
Ever heard of “bad light stops play”? Well, it’s a real thing. Artificial light and natural light impacts how a batter is able to pick a ball out from the air, and how fielders judge their catches.
This all benefits seamers, of course. Picking out a 90mph delivery in the gloomier light of Adelaide will be extremely difficult.
Australia have such a good record against opponents at home in day-night Tests because of their pacy bowling attack.
In England’s ranks, though, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson were held back in the first match, but in the favourable conditions of a day-night Test, they should be back in the mix for selection.
Bowlers who can reach delivery speeds of 85mph or more can see batting averages of 30 with red balls drop to 23 with the day-night ball.
Those who are medium-fast seamers, bowling at 75mph or more, can see averages of 44 reduced to 29. The difference is stark anyhow.
Australia may have won eight out of eight of their home day-night Tests, but they haven’t yet faced a duo like Broad and Anderson who can get the ball swinging at high speeds. That is why some feel this day-nighter is a good chance for England to level the series.