Cricket in whites, at night

Pink ball

Test cricket needs a change in its carapace and not in its core. Let the core of the classical format retain its innate beauty, which indeed is as mesmerising as ever; only that it needs to be properly driven to the masses in a form that garners global appreciation. A concept on which people have endlessly debated and discussed and experts have run out on their expertise by penning down pages, it is high time Test cricket let itself be bit by the nocturnal bug. Night Tests sound enchanting, riveting and promising to offer an evening of sheer enthusiasm. It looks strong enough an idea to be tried out at the international level, if not to be completely embraced.

Persisting with abstemiousness will not do the trick, as Test cricket rightfully deserves its share of flaunt and flair and the audacity presently reserved for its younger and sleek cousins. The nightly atmosphere certainly enhances the glamour quotient under the glare of lights. If nothing else, night Tests should be viewed as a completely different conduit to the existing ones to woo viewers into the Test arena and to television sets.

To become a global reality, the idea of night Test matches need to parry thorough an ensemble of excruciating hurdles. Cricketing conditions remain the pessimists’ countenance. Dew remains day-night games’ biggest nemesis. The colour of the ball under lights is termed as the biggest block in the realm of visibility. But as battle scarred warriors, cricket and cricketers need to confront adversities as challenges for a bigger cause, as amidst great difficulty lies the game’s greatest opportunity.

It is a fact baffling beyond belief that a nerve racking script in the form of an encounter in whites unfolds itself when the fans are working away within the portals of plush offices. Letting the drama unfold at a time convenient to the fans is the stepping stone towards filling up empty stands, with madmen cheering with an unabridged and uninhibited wildness. Test cricket needs to renounce some of its traditional sheen to welcome its more glamorous nocturnal cousin with a long term view to enhance its longevity. Flawless playing conditions remains, and in all probability will remain, a fantasy keeping in mind its dependence on unbiased technology, natural vagaries and perfect human decisions. Compromising a bit on the same seems a fair trade-off for encrypting an epic atmosphere for the audience.

A lot of talk has been doing the rounds in cricketing circles about pink balls being a possible option in night Test matches. It indeed is heartening to see Cricket Australia adopting a proactive stance towards staging Tests after dusk falls. Sheffield matches have been played under lights at Melbourne and Adelaide to overwhelming responses from the audience. But, for the idea to become a movement and the change into a rampant revolution, boards like BCCI armed with the might of money need to shun pusillanimity and show the penchant to improvise. First-class games at night won’t be that bad a start.

The cloak of apathy donned by cricket bosses resembles an attitude of intransigence towards a novel yet enterprising pedagogy of ostentation. Cricket today is not what it was. Things have changed beyond recognition. As much as the gentleman’s game it ever was, cricket has metamorphosed into a global business hub enamouring enormous chunks of money. And it is the ever enlarging buck pie that provides the game the much desired fuel to keep it up and running. The time when the game of cricket was just a sport involving a few good men is history. The stadium of today has become a stage of dreams for performers to orchestrate their art before stands packed to the hilt with the game’s biggest aficionados.

Cricket is as much of an experience as a game, if not more. An experience which is rightly expected to be an enthralling and not a dour one. Experiences are conjured on exotic ambiences and thrived on an electrifying atmosphere. Cricket has become an empire where the consumer is the ultimate emperor. A consumer centred approach towards marketing the game’s highest pinnacle of excellence – Test cricket – is the need of the hour.

We need to magnetise the game’s core to attract young and old alike, communicating excellent value by putting up a quality wholesome experience on offer. Night Test matches are certainly worth giving a go, if not worthy enough of being embraced as way of cricketing life. But a try against the tide in pursuit of safe waters may be the tonic a format which is in dire straits needs at present. It is an investment worth making, keeping in mind the halcyon days in the game’s enriching history.