Australia in line to play first day-night Test abroad – cricket.com.au

Planned upgrade to Sabina Park’s floodlights expected to see final West Indies-Australia Test played with a pink ball
Australia will play their first day-night Test abroad if a planned upgrade to the floodlights at Jamaica’s Sabina Park are ticked off in the coming months.
After Shamar Joseph led the famous ambushing of the Test world champions in their most recent pink-ball contest at the Gabba, Cricket West Indies (CWI) is hopeful of dishing out more pain under lights for the final match of Australia’s three-Test tour of the Caribbean in July.  
“The last time we played Australia in Australia we pulled off what they consider an upset – but we certainly don’t,” CWI chief executive Chris Dehring said this week. “We intend to go one better.”
Australia have a formidable day-night record – their defeat to the Windies in January last year marked their first in 13 Tests played with the pink ball – but they have never been challenged under lights away from home.
The first two Tests in Barbados and Grenada will remain red-ball contests but CWI say the final match of the series in Jamaica will be played as a pink-ball game once improvements to the ground’s lights are finished.
“We’re open to it,” Cricket Australia’s scheduling and operations boss Peter Roach told cricket.com.au. “We’re awaiting further information from Cricket West Indies about the successful installation of the new lights at Sabina Park.
“But we encourage teams to play day-night cricket here in Australia once a season so when an opportunity to reciprocate comes up, we are very supportive.
“The planned lighting specifications look more than adequate to host day-night Test cricket and provided these are met then CWI and CA are aligned on playing the match as a day-night Test.”
The Jamaican Cricket Association has conceded its facilities are well short of the standard set by other venues in the region. Jamaica did not apply to host games at last year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
The most populous island among the cricket-playing West Indian nations was once a regular venue for touring sides but has hosted only three Tests over the past six years. Australia did play there on their last Test tour of the Caribbean in 2015, winning by 277 runs thanks to Steve Smith’s 199.
“Sabina Park has been in decline over the past few years,” Jamaica Cricket Association president Dr Donovan Bennett told SportsMax recently.
“We’re without a scoreboard and the present lighting we have is inadequate to hold international cricket (at night).
“The entire lighting system needs to be and will be changed out in time for the Australian tour … we definitely need to have the lights up and running before then.”
The uptake of day-night Test cricket outside Australia has declined in recent times, with England and India both abandoning previous trials. All but three of the last 11 pink-ball Tests (dating back to 2019) have been played down under.
Upgrades to the Sabina Park lights will meanwhile also permit the first two matches of Australia’s five-T20 series against West Indies to be played under lights in Jamaica.
A new scoreboard, a gift from the Indian government, is also said to be on schedule to be in place for Australia’s visit.
Bureaucratic red tape has delayed improvement works for the ground which has a complex ownership structure, but the Jamaican government has tipped in JMD $75 million ($763k AUD) to complete the long-awaited lighting upgrade.
One-day and T20 Internationals at Sabina Park have previously been played as day games only. Bennett said the current lights at the venue are only about half as powerful as they need to be to host matches at night.
Cricket Australia officials are visiting Jamaica this month as part of a routine pre-tour inspection.
“The Australians have agreed for it to be a day-night Test match. It is of course subject to the new lighting system that’s being implemented at Sabina Park is finished in time and to specification,” said Dehring.
“We have in place a strong monitoring and support system to help the Jamaica Cricket Association and the Jamaica government to achieve this.
“If memory serves me right, the last time we beat Australia, it was a day-night Test match. It may be a superficial example to use but maybe it’s just a good omen.
“You simply have a much larger addressable audience for night events, and that’s why most sustainable stadiums around the world have lights.
“… The data absolutely supports us hosting a day-night Test match at Sabina Park.”
First Test: June 25-29, Bridgetown, Barbados (midnight AEST)
Second Test: July 3-7, St George’s, Grenada (midnight AEST)
Third Test: July 12-16, Kingston, Jamaica (1am AEST)
First T20I: July 20, Kingston, Jamaica (Jul 21, 9am AEST)
Second T20I: July 22, Kingston, Jamaica (Jul 23, 9am AEST)
Third T20I: July 25, Basseterre, St Kitts (Jul 26, 8am AEST)
Fourth T20I: July 26, Basseterre, St Kitts (Jul 27, 8am AEST)
Fifth T20I: July 28, Basseterre, St Kitts (Jul 29, 8am AEST)
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