Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Australia are still in command of the first Test against South Africa, leading by 139 runs despite the early finishes
ByMatthew HenryBBC Sport journalist- Published40 minutes ago
It is one of cricket's oldest and most frustrating problems: bad light.
A fascinating passage of play halted when things get too gloomy.
The issue has reared its head again this week in the fascinating first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban, wiping out more than 60 overs across the first three days.
The fact a solution was added to cricket's rules just last week, an option so far unused around the world, only adds to the frustration.
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Bad light in mid-afternoon - what's gone on in Durban?
Play is already starting early, at 09:30 local time in Durban, given this is the first October Test at Kingsmead, a setting where the sun sets shortly after 18:00 at this time of year on South Africa's eastern coast.
Still, on day one, play was halted at 15:23 local time after clouds built. Only 65.2 of the scheduled 90 overs had been bowled and the players were unable to return.
Day two was slightly better with play continuing until 16:25, but that finish was still 35 minutes earlier than it could have been. Day three's end came at 16:31.
On each occasion, the first two sessions have been played in hot, sunny conditions, only for clouds to build in the afternoon - a familiar weather pattern in Durban.
"Very quickly in the morning, as temperatures have risen inland as the sun heats the ground, a sea breeze has formed with winds coming from the sea into Durban," said BBC weather presenter Chris Fawkes.
"This has increased humidity levels through the morning and brought some cloud in. As temperatures have started to fall again towards the evening, this has increased the relative humidity with the air getting increasingly saturated.
"That has caused the cloud to get thicker and lower."
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Play is suspended Test cricket if the umpires decide light conditions are "dangerous or unreasonable" for the players
What about the change in playing conditions?
Following a trial earlier in the year, the International Cricket Council amended its playing conditions to allow the pink ball to be used in Tests.
It was supposed to help in these exact scenarios.
Crucially, it does not allow a red ball to be switched for pink when the light becomes poor - something previously suggested by former England captain Michael Vaughan.
Instead, if problems with the light are expected, it allows teams to agree before a Test starts to use the pink ball throughout.
No such discussions were held between the Proteas and Australia before the Durban Test, however.
'There is a stigma around the pink ball'
The pink ball has been a fixture of day-night Tests because it is easier to see than the darker red in night-time conditions.
Former South Africa bowler Shaun Pollock was part of the ICC committee which recommended the change and he believes there is a "stigma" around the pink ball in the game.
"They say it moves too much," Pollock said.
"If Australia were 124-6 [as they were on day one] and we were using the pink ball, everyone would have said it was the pink ball's fault.
"If Australia were 124-6 and got to 390 [as they did in their first innings] everyone in South Africa would have said it was the pink ball's fault, that it got soft.
"The pink ball would have meant we played 45 more overs of Test cricket and that is why I am keen to introduce it, and not just for day-night games."
Why might teams not want to use the pink ball?
One narrative exists that the pink ball moves more under floodlights, though that is not backed up by ball tracking data.
Instead, various batters have spoken about the pink ball being more difficult to see. Batting averages are lowest in the evening of day-night matches.
Australia have also played in 15 of Test cricket's day-nighters - 10 more than anyone else.
Unsurprisingly, the four leading wicket-takers in day-night matches are all Australians. Left-armer Mitchell Starc's haul of 89 wickets in 15 Tests has positioned him as the undisputed pink-ball king.
You would not blame teams if they would rather face Australia with the red ball.
Former South Africa bowler Vernon Philander said he prefers the idea of switching balls during the match if conditions require it, but that would raise questions over the Test's integrity.
Is the potential injustice of one team having to face a pink ball outweighed by the need to get more action of the field?
"They have to take it out of the hands of the players completed and enforce it from the umpires' point of view that the pink ball will become in play when the light has faded enough," Philander said.
"You are always going to have the argument of who is ahead of the game.
"I would like to see the ICC enforce it on to the officials to make that call."
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- Published28 August
