Steven Smith is considering a small but eye-catching tweak before Thursday’s second Ashes Test – black adhesive strips under each eye, the same anti-glare measure once favoured by Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
The stand-in Australia captain tried the tape during a floodlit net session at the Gabba on Sunday, three days out from the pink-ball contest. With Australia 1-0 up after that two-day romp in Perth, any edge feels worth exploring.
Smith has featured in 13 of Australia’s 14 day-night Tests, yet the numbers remain middling: one century in 24 innings and an average of 37.04. Under natural light he averages 58.31 with 35 hundreds. “The pink ball in general is just a completely different game,” he said after July’s victory over West Indies in Jamaica. “Personally, I find it quite tricky just picking the ball up at certain times of the day and things like that, and the way it behaves is completely different to a red one.
“I think people like the spectacle. But as a player, particularly as a batter, it’s very challenging. The game can so quickly, and things change really quickly, which you probably don’t get so much with a red ball. But yeah, people like watching it, I suppose, so I guess it’s here to stay.”
‘Eye-blacks’ are common in American sport, designed to absorb floodlight glare that would otherwise bounce off the skin. They are cheap, disposable and legal. Chanderpaul used them for years. “I always used it whenever it was very glary,” he told Gulf News back in 2018. “I stick them on and it does help take 60-70 percent of the glare off my eyes, and that was good for me.”
Alastair Cook, who opened in three day-night Tests for England, reckons the real battle is keeping track of the black seam. “When the floodlights shine off the pink leather, it distracts from focusing on the black seam – and if you can’t see the seam as a batsman, you’re in big trouble,” he wrote in the Sunday Times. “Whatever type of cricket you are playing, the seam is your clue as to how the ball will behave… At least you have a chance with a red ball. If it’s a pink one under lights, it’s nigh-on impossible to pick up the seam and, therefore, decide with confidence which way the ball might move.”
Not everyone is sold on the concept. Joe Root wondered aloud this week if the Ashes needs a pink-ball Test at all, a suggestion dismissed out of hand by Travis Head. For now, the fixture remains on the schedule, and Smith’s taped-up cheeks might become the latest footnote in the relatively young history of day-night cricket.
