ICC looking into different coloured balls for Tests

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said that it is looking into the prospect of using different coloured balls in Test matches.

A pink ball will be used for the first ever day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand in November, but Tests which are played during the day will have red balls.

The red ball can get difficult to see when playing under floodlights, like it happened in England's draw with Pakistan on Saturday and therefore ICC is looking at alternatives.

"It may be that we use a different coloured ball for all Tests,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Currently there are no rules as to how red-ball cricket is to be played under lights during the Tests. These are enforced by the umpires, with no consultation with the players, as occurred on Saturday, as England were denied the chance to hit 25 runs for a win at Abu Dhabi.

"It's not ideal for the game," said former South Africa wicketkeeper Richardson.

"How we solve it I'm not so sure. We've tried various methods. We are pinning some hope on developing a ball, a different coloured ball. At this stage it would be a pink ball."

"If we can use it for day-night Test cricket, if the quality is good enough and it stays in decent enough condition, long term we can use that different coloured ball for all Test matches," he added.