It’s a colour more readily associated with the famous pop singer and the words Champagne, Floyd and Diamond than a type of cricket ball, but, finally, after almost a decade of research and testing, Nottinghamshire is at last going to be tickled pink.
Next week marks a landmark moment in Trent Bridge history, when the world’s third oldest Test venue hosts its first ever four-day day-night game. Kent visit West Bridgford for an exciting, table-topping clash in the Specsavers County Championship, where each Member can bring along two guests for free.
But perhaps the most interesting element to the new concept – more so than the use of floodlights in the evening session, which is now commonplace for many T20 matches – is the use of the Dukes pink ball. Simply because it is a first, it brings with it an unusual uncertainty in an era of professional sport where everything is analysed to the nth degree.
Will the ball swing a lot? Will it scuff up and reverse swing? Is the seam different and therefore likely to move more or less off the pitch? Will the batsman be able to pick up the ball? How differently will the ball behave in daylight and once the lights are switched on?
“How both sets of players react to the pink ball is going to be key.” Captain Chris Read
All these questions make this game, which starts on Monday at 2pm and is scheduled to finish on Thursday (26 to 29 June), all the more intriguing.
Of course, Nottinghamshire will not go into the fixture totally devoid of pink ball preparation. Batsmen have netted with the pink ball before play in this week’s County Championship game with Leicestershire, while all players will attend a behind-closed-doors evening training session planned for tomorrow.
Not only that, but captain Chris Read, along with others in the current squad such as Steven Mullaney, Luke Fletcher, Jake Ball and Brett Hutton, have at least contested a pink ball game before, albeit not on these shores.
All four of that quintet played in the MCC v Champion County season curtain raiser in March 2011, when Notts were on the wrong end of a 174-run defeat at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where they fell victim to a second-innings Rahul Dravid century.
That’s so long ago now that it is unlikely to have much bearing on what follows next week. Read, for one is approaching the game with an open mind and said: “First and foremost, I’m looking forward to the game because it’s a crunch game in Division Two. The fact it’s with the pink ball for the first time at Trent Bridge only adds to it.
“What is going to happen in the match? I have no idea. I can only go on experiences in the UAE, but that was with the Kookaburra ball and this will be with the Dukes.
“In red ball cricket, there’s a marked difference between the two balls, so it will be interesting to see if there is more or less difference between the two when it comes to the pink ball.
“I don’t think the lights, and playing under them, are going to be a massive factor because we are so close to the summer solstice and it should still be light. So how both sets of players react to the pink ball is going to be key and we will have to get to grips with it pretty quickly.
“The lads have had a bat facing the pink ball in the nets and they say it’s pretty easy to pick up and see.” Bowler James Pattinson
“The practice will give us a better feel for how the ball behaves. The one thing that I hope is that it doesn’t have too much impact on the game, and that bowling with it at certain times doesn’t unduly help or hinder each side too much, which has sometimes been the case in pink ball matches so far.”
Playing back in his native Australia, paceman Darren Pattinson is another not entirely new to the pink ball, having charged in for Victoria with it during four-day Sheffield Shield cricket.
That’s welcome news for Nottinghamshire fans given the Dandenong Destroyer, as he has affectionately become known during his time at Trent Bridge, has been in lethal form in First-Class cricket since joining the club, taking 28 wickets at 10.50 in the four matches for which he has been available.
“It’s going to be different in Australia because it won’t really be dark like it was when we played back at home,” said Pattinson. There, you’re playing the last session under the lights and in the darkness, which really makes a difference.
“The scoring in Australia with the pink balls has been pretty good and it’s not until the lights come on that the ball starts swinging around, but I don’t think we’ll have that problem here.
“The lads have had a bat facing the pink ball in the nets and they say it’s pretty easy to pick up and see, so I think it will be an exciting game at Trent Bridge.”
First tested in 2008 in a match between Queensland Women and Western Australia Women, the theory behind using pink balls is that they deteriorate more slowly than their white counterparts, but have better night visibility than red ones, making them the most suitable for longer format day-night cricket.
Trials have not been without issue, with previous versions of the ball losing shape or being hard to pick up, but administrators hope those issues are now in the past as players around the country prepare to use them across the next round of Specsavers County Championship matches.
“It should be an interesting spectacle for our supporters.” Head Coach Peter Moores
More pink ball history will follow for English cricket in August when Edgbaston hosts the first day-night Test in this country as the West Indies provide the opposition.
Nottinghamshire Head Coach Peter Moores is keen to see how things pan out in English conditions and said: “The pink ball appears to be a little bit more like the white ball than the red one in terms of how it wears.
“With the red ball you can work on the shine and get it swinging around. I’m not sure the pink ball will work that way, and it may be more like in Australia where it can stop swinging after 10 overs.
“That could change a little bit under the lights, but that wouldn’t last for long anyway being around our longest day.
“What it should be is an interesting spectacle for our supporters, particularly as Kent have shown they have some very good cricketers who are keen to win promotion just like us.”
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