Cricket Australia (CA) insists the pink ball remains on the Ashes agenda, even after reports in the UK suggested the next men’s series in 2029-30 would revert entirely to traditional day Tests.
“They haven’t requested it [to be dropped],” CA chief executive Todd Greenberg told SEN radio. “Pleasingly, we don’t play them here until 2029, so I’ve got a little bit of time to work this one out. It’s a part of our broadcast contracts. It’s clearly a big part of our summer [and] it clearly works here in this country.”
The current television deal, which runs through to 2031, guarantees at least one day-night Test each Australian summer. Those matches have delivered bumper ratings and healthy gate receipts since Adelaide first tried the format in 2015.
In the most recent Ashes, the pink-ball game was staged in Brisbane, Australia winning by eight wickets. England’s overall record with the pink ball in Australia now reads four defeats from four, each by a fair distance. During that tour Joe Root wondered aloud whether day-night fixtures were necessary in a contest that “already sells itself”, but Greenberg sounded unmoved.
Pressed on whether England should expect a pink-ball Test in 2029-30, he replied: “That’s certainly our expectation, yes.”
Next March’s 150th-anniversary Test between Australia and England at the MCG – the ground that hosted the very first Test in 1877 – will also be played under lights. CA ran its first ticket ballot for the occasion and says crowds of around 90,000 are likely on each of the opening three days, with public tickets for days three and four released on Wednesday.
Some traditionalists dislike the idea of a commemorative match being played at night, but Greenberg, who inherited the decision, believes the numbers speak for themselves. “I think the ticket sales send us a very strong message that people will turn up,” he said. “It’s clearly a better time zone for those in England to be able to watch it on broadcast. It’s not school holidays at that period of time, so I am hoping that kids and families can finish their days at school and leave work early and be at the ground.
“It’s also a bit of a nod to say we’re at 150 years of Australia and England Test matches, and we’ve got to continue to challenge ourselves and evolve.
“I’m not suggesting for one minute that every Test match should be a pink-ball game, but pink ball has a place to play in this country. Anyone who is against it just needs to look through the prism of we’ll have double the amount of people watching a particular session than we ordinarily do, and you can’t turn away from that.”
CA has promised to work with the ECB on preparation, acknowledging England’s difficulties with the format. Practice matches under lights and access to the pink Kookaburra earlier in the tour are both on the table.
While the board finalises plans for 2029-30, attention stays fixed on next March’s anniversary fixture. Expect marketing to lean on nostalgia – CA is inviting every living player from the 19th-century fixture’s descendant sides – yet the governing body is equally keen to signal the future: day-night Tests, at least one a year, seem here to stay.
