Day/night Test’s success shows  the way ahead
If life – and by extension, sports – is all about change, then the carefully choreographed debut of day-night Test cricket in Adelaide has not only thrown some time-honoured conventions out the window but  has also offered a glimmer of hope for the survival of the game’s oldest format.
It is no secret that Test cricket has been in terminal decline for quite some time now, with thin crowds, poor pitches and questionable policies by national cricket boards as well as the International Cricket Council all contributing to the problem.
Purists regard Tests as the pinnacle of the game but their enthusiasm for five-day matches has been unmatched in the terraces of most cricket nations for years.
So the total attendance of 123,000 fans at Adelaide Oval for a game that lasted less than three days is certain to have struck a chord with the sport’s power-brokers, many of whom were onlookers at the venue.
“The inaugural day/night Test in Adelaide was a huge success, enjoyed by cricket followers across the world,” International Cricket Council Chief Executive David Richardson, who attended the match, said in a statement.
“Day/night Tests will not be feasible at every venue, it certainly provides a new dimension for players, spectators, broadcasters and fans alike and it is here to stay.”
The series-opener at the Gabba drew 52,000 spectators in total, while the 47,000 that flocked to day one in Adelaide easily outstripped the 40,000 who trickled through the gates for the entire Test at the WACA in Perth.
The Australians have been the pioneers of change in cricket, having introduced day/night limited overs matches, white balls and coloured clothing to international cricket in a big way.  And with the Adelaide match proving a success it won’t be long before other venues also warm up to the concept.
A backward move by India
While Australia has yet again shown the way ahead, it seems India is keen on taking a few step backwards as two of the team’s recent Test wins over South Africa have shown.
India won the Test matches in Chennai and Nagpur thanks to rank bad turning wickets, the argument being that home sides have the right to produce conditions that suit their spin bowlers.
While there is some merit in this line of thinking, the fact also remains that Test matches ending in two and a half days are a bad advertisement for the game. One might argue that the Adelaide Test also ended inside three days, but the fact remains that the match was a thriller where the result could have gone either way. Indian spinners have won Test matches in four or five days in the past on wickets that offered turn but were essentially sporting. Fans like to see batsmen grind it out when bowlers are on song, not make a cursory trip to the crease and depart, just for the sake of completing the formalities of the game.
Former India spinner Bishan Singh Bedi was spot on when he suggested that the Indians “take off their whites and play with your suspenders on this wrestling pit” “You want me to believe this is home advantage? Pitches are not meant to turn on day one itself. To make a hard and bouncy track, you need some knowledge and a particular kind of soil, but here you didn’t need anything, just don’t prepare the wicket and that has been the case in Nagpur,” Bedi was quoted as saying in the Mid-Day newspaper.
Maybe it is time for the ICC to look into this issue seriously.