A lot of leagues in the United States are opting to use fluorescent pink balls instead of the traditional red or white claiming that it provides better visibility; and as we play on make shift grounds with trees and houses as backdrops, it will negate the need of sight screens to an extent.
Of course, with any change come concern, resistance and debate. We can sit here and discuss the obvious points such as quality of the ball, the excessive swing or the lack of it etc, but I will like to bring up another angle and will love to hear from the” weekend warriors” aka USA club cricketers especially the ones aspiring to play at the higher level
Is this change (pink balls) very short sighted? How will this affect the players who strive to play at a higher level in the long run? ICC doesn't plan to switch to fluorescent balls just yet, are we doing these aspiring USA cricketers a disservice?
Syed Ahmed
As far as the visibility goes, its definitely better than the red ball. Since we use white uniforms, the white ball can't be used. Even if we do introduce this at a club level, I don't think we are doing a disservice. Pink balls are already being used at a domestic level in almost all the cricketing countries. Considering all the factors such as trees, houses, 6 inches grass to locate the red(dark) ball, it does make sense from batsman point of view...but I would like to hear from bowler's point of view too.
ReplyDeletePlaying with pink ball has it's own advantages and disadvantages alike. Advantages, as R. Malik mentioned visibility, compare to the white and red/dark red bright pink is much more visible not only for batsman, but for fielders, umpires and spectators as well. Other advantage is that if you play with pink ball, clothing can be either cricketing whites or other color uniforms which most teams would prefer.
ReplyDeleteNow disadvantages, quality of the pink balls are not that great that they would last full 40 overs. Most manufacturers just paint the ball and that is not acceptable.
Now to answer the question in term of players striving for higher level. There is no way US will be getting a chance to play test in near future, so seeing the red ball is out of the question. Playing in shorter format ICC and most of the tournaments in US uses white balls. ICC ODI matches played with two white balls and on top of that umpires still need to change the ball towards the later part of the inning because white ball discolor.
In my view if the pink ball of a good quality is far batter than either red or white ball not only for batsman but fielders as well. Bowlers will get their advantage as long as the quality of the ball is good.