Day-night Tests discussed at ICC meeting - Faul

Jacques Faul, acting CSA head: "The pink Kookaburra ball is
good enough, is what we have been told [after Pakistan's
 day-night first-class games]." © Clare Skinner 

Day-night Test cricket has once again become a possibility after the ICC annual conference in Kuala Lampur. All Full Members were approached and asked if they would be open to the idea of hosting a day-night Test and there seems to be interested from some quarters. CSA's acting chief executive, Jacques Faul, called it "one the exciting ideas" to emerge from the meeting.

"We were all encouraged to try and host a night Test," Faul said at a press briefing on his return home. "In our case, it's something the board will have to approve first before anything else can happen. Then, we'll have to convince the players, the coach and the opponents."

Although Faul admitted the idea is something CSA may "want to try", he said he would not be happy to rush into it without some form of trial run. "If we do it, we will start off with a first-class match. I'm not brave enough to just get into a [international] night game without testing it," he said. Pakistan is the only country that have played first-class cricket under lights, with the final of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy being played as a day-night fixture for the last two seasons.

Faul said there was significant feedback from the Pakistan experiment to pique the interest of some other countries, including South Africa. "There weren't any negative comments about it," he said. "The pink Kookaburra ball is good enough, is what we have been told."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.