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[gramw]

from sky sports news
The International Cricket Council have confirmed that dwindling attendance at Test matches could speed up the possibility of day-night fixtures, if a suitable ball could be developed.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat endorsed a call by Cricket Australia head James Sutherland for day-night Tests in an effort to improve attendance and television ratings.

"The lack of crowd attendance at many grounds around the globe is a cause for concern," Lorgat said.

"In that was the possibility of exploring day-night cricket because there is no doubt James Sutherland has put that on the table.

"We all know the technical difficulties on that. If that's an answer to ensuring the status it has because it's a better time proposition, then I would be in favour of it."

The main technical difficulty is the ball with wear on the ball a key factor in Test match cricket.

Day-night Tests would therefore need to find a method to replicate the wear when switching from a red ball during the day to a white ball at night, or develop a ball that was equally visible in day and night sessions.

whats does everyone think of this? dont think it would work but thats just my thoughts

[Bellie]

i dont see it working tbh. the only thing which would be good is that the days play will start later in the day and we will beable to watch more tests matchs that are on week days

[Coach]

i guwss this is why the pink ball is being trialed. not a good idea for me test cricket should stay the same! But perhaps in a two division system

Div 1 - Aus
        - SA
        - Eng
        - Ind
        - NZ
Div 2 - WI
        - SL
        - Pak
        - Zim
        - Ban
But the major flaw in this is that the money from the india series is massive so whoever is in D2 will not be sustainable

[gramw]

nah the pink ball was trialed for Odis only

[Howzat]

Only problem with your idea GMhollins is that we may find England end up in tier 2! In my opinion SL are on a par with England and Pakistan and WI are not that far behind

[AtBalfour]

Sri Lanka are a far better team than England are! System suggested won't work, but just for fun, here are my view of the Rankings:

1. South Africa - Look a very good team- Duminy, AB and the Morkel's look promising.
2. India- Soon to be No.1's if they win away from home. Powerhouse Batting lineup.
3. Australia- On the Fade and Ponting's inability to captain is being exposed.
4. Sri Lanka- A well balanced team with 4 big match winners. Sanga, Jaya, Murali, Mendis.
5. England- Too inconsistent with the bat, good with the ball, awful selection policy.
6. Pakistan- So much talent, would be par with England had they played more cricket.
7. New Z- Starting to come good, Taylor, Flynn and Southee are real prospects.
8. West Indies- One and a half man team in my eyes- Shiv and Gayle (when on form!)
9. Bangladesh- Inexperienced, but tons of talent. Watch out WI and NZ!

[Coach]

Yeh im saying that that system wouldnt work but and Gramw it wasnt specific to oneday cricket but they didnt want to trial it in tests. Leo that would never be allowed to happen as they bring in major cash! Another more likely option is that the big four break away - ENG,SA,AUS,IND and play eachother regularly only playing the others when it suits.

[gramw]

greg are you sure about the balls? i thought the red ball was staying (because its near perfect) where as it was the white ball that they wanted to replace, maybe not

[Coach]

No if they do go ahead with day night tests they will have to brighten the ball for high catches - thats just what i have heard from my link inside the ECB

[gramw]

i wasnt talking specifically about the pink ball been used in day night tests i just meant i thought the ball was been tested to replace the white ball and not the red (like in this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7092114.stm ) but the ball would need changing if this did come into place

[Coach]

well its served a dual purpose because the ball will need changed if the dn tests goes ahead but at the time the MCC wernt to happy so they would have rejected it if it was sugested for tests aswell!

[stevie]

This wouldn't work unless the players changed their clothes at tea or whatever and played with a white ball which is ridiculous. Maybe in countries where it stays light late it would work.