Former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock has proposed using pink balls in traditional daytime Test matches to reduce the loss of playing time due to bad light. His suggestion has reignited the debate over whether cricket should reconsider its long-standing preference for the red ball in Test cricket.
Pollock’s comments came after weather interruptions affected the ongoing first Test between South Africa and Australia at Kingsmead in Durban. Only 221 of the scheduled 270 overs were bowled across the first three days.
After an extended period of uninterrupted sunshine on Monday, South Africa faced a challenging target of 421 runs following Australia’s second-innings declaration. At stumps on Day 4, the hosts were struggling at 102/4, with Aiden Markram unbeaten on 45, while Australia remained firmly in control heading into the final day.
Shaun Pollock Explains Why Pink Balls Could Help
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has recently permitted the use of pink balls in daytime Test matches on a trial basis, provided both captains agree before the match. If approved, the pink ball must be used throughout the game, with no option to switch back to the traditional red ball.
Pollock believes the provision deserves serious consideration, particularly when poor light threatens to reduce playing time.
“I am not saying for one moment that we should have used the pink ball and played a day-night game,” Pollock told Fox Sports.
“I just believed we should have used the pink ball for the day game. It is not irrelevant because if you use the red ball, all of a sudden you cannot play Test cricket past bad light time, but if you use the pink one, you can,” he added.
The former South African star’s argument centres on the visibility advantages of the pink ball, which could potentially allow play to continue in conditions where the red ball is no longer considered suitable.
With Test cricket constantly seeking ways to maximise playing time, Pollock’s proposal raises an important question: should tradition take a back seat when bad light threatens to affect the outcome of a match?
Pollock Questions Whether Teams Would Agree
Pollock also highlighted a potential hurdle in implementing the proposal: whether teams would agree to use a pink ball when the result has major consequences.
“If this was a final or a game where you had to win to enter the World Test Championship final and it was 1-all in the series, and Australia was playing South Africa and you tell them, ‘Let’s use the pink ball because we are going to lose 100 overs to bad light’ do you think they would agree or not agree?” he questioned.
His comments underline the difficulty of relying on mutual agreement between captains. Even if the pink ball could help minimise interruptions, teams might hesitate to adopt an approach with which they have limited experience, particularly in high-pressure matches.
Ashwell Prince Backs Traditional Red-Ball Cricket
South Africa senior assistant coach Ashwell Prince, however, remains firmly in favour of using the red ball in conventional daytime Tests. He believes differences in teams’ experience with the pink ball could make it difficult to secure agreement.
“For me, outside of a day-night Test, it has got to be a red ball. I think, obviously some nations have played a lot more pink ball cricket than others and so, therefore, to get both captains to agree is always going to be a challenge,” Prince said.
He added that some teams might feel they lack sufficient experience with the pink ball to accept the change.
“To get both captains to agree to that, some teams will feel that they simply do not have enough experience of it, so, I think it would be very difficult to get both captains to agree. But for me, you know, Test matches are the red ball,” he said.
Can Pink Balls Solve Test Cricket’s Bad-Light Problem?
The contrasting views from Pollock and Prince highlight the challenge facing cricket authorities. While the pink ball could offer a possible way to preserve playing time during poor-light conditions, questions remain about its adoption, teams’ willingness to agree and the importance of maintaining the traditional character of Test cricket.
As weather interruptions continue to affect matches, the debate over whether pink balls should be used in daytime Tests is likely to remain a talking point among players, coaches and cricket administrators.