Pink-ball county cricket proves reassuringly regulation at Headlingley

26 June 2017 11:39

Ahead of its first use in the Specsavers County Championship, there had been much debate about the properties of Dukes' new pink ball, the vagaries it will introduce to English cricket and the possible effect on the fragile dynamics between bowler and batsman.

At Headingley, on day one of Surrey's Division One clash against Yorkshire, it was pleasing to note a handful of firm conclusions being reached.

Rory Burns painstakingly proved over four hours that the pink ball can be left just as easily outside off stump as its crimson cousin; Jason Roy offered empirical evidence that a pink long hop can be despatched to the ropes with identical velocity as a red one; Kumar Sangakkara demonstrated his timeless cover drive looks just as artful no matter the accompanying colour palette.

For a sport forever indulging some kind of identity crisis - which other elite pursuit asks an identical core of athletes to compete in three distinct formats then spends half a decade debating the kind of dye which should be applied to the tools of their trade? - there was something reassuringly regulation about the first two sessions in Leeds.

The final crowd of 2,595 was around par for Yorkshire - no obvious spike in interest and no exodus of the old-school contingent, and 494 came through the gates after 5pm, when prices were reduced to a maximum of £10.

The numbers never visibly swelled, though, with a steady stream of departures heading in the opposite direction as concerns over the last train home took their toll.

The stewarding staff were denied anything as outre as overtime for unsociable hours, while the catering van hawking ice creams and milkshakes to punters who had long since retreated underneath blankets and fleeces decided to draw stumps long before the umpires followed suit.

The book stall at the Football Stand End was another touchstone of normality on a day of change, open for business as usual during the afternoon session.

Its punters, few of whom looked likely to have been drawn to the stadium by the new innovations on show, thumbed decades-old tomes and a handful of Wisden Almanacks at the bargain price of £2 a go, and yards away a solitary security light shone out next to a banner advertising the White Rose county's official beer partner.

Until 7pm, it was the only shining bulb in evidence around the ground.

That is when the four floodlights kicked into gear for the final session, after almost 64 overs of largely typical championship fare.

The ball appeared easier to pick up, having become increasingly grubby with each hefty blow off Adil Rashid, whose first spell of 9-0-58-0 will hardly have left the leg-spinner tickled, pink or otherwise.

But there was no noticeable effect on proceedings, no crash of wickets in the dreaded 'twilight zone' - the period where artificial light replaces natural - and no confused fielders staying still as the ball whistled past their nose. Even Yorkshire's colourblind skipper Gary Ballance, who was struggling to pick up the new ball in the final hour, managed to steer clear of slapstick moments at mid-on.

For those seeking wider conclusions about pink balls and the future of floodlit first-class cricket, the wait must go on, but county cricket at least showed itself resilient enough to take the latest administrative brainwave in its stride.

Source: PA