The pink ball: cricket figures weigh in
The great and the good tell us if this newfangled thingummybob might work
Alan Tyers
19-Jun-2015
"Pink ball? Give me a minute to come up with a weird car-related analogy" • AFP
It is the question on everyone's lips (other than "Who are you and what have you done with the England cricket team?"). What might some of the game's biggest stars think about the prospect of night-time pink-ball Tests?
Peter Moores
"Unknown format command. Need more data. Need more data. Malfunction. Malfunction."
"Unknown format command. Need more data. Need more data. Malfunction. Malfunction."
Mitchell Johnson
"It's looking at me funny. Why is it pink? I don't like it."
"It's looking at me funny. Why is it pink? I don't like it."
AB de Villiers
"Cricket at night could suit me. I'm a 'can't-see-ball-still-hit-ball' sort of cricketer. I have actually evolved compound eyes that can see in the dark a thousand times better than an ordinary human. As a boy I represented South Africa in nocturnal bat hunting."
"Cricket at night could suit me. I'm a 'can't-see-ball-still-hit-ball' sort of cricketer. I have actually evolved compound eyes that can see in the dark a thousand times better than an ordinary human. As a boy I represented South Africa in nocturnal bat hunting."
Chris Gayle
"Chris tends to be a bit busy at nights, if you know what I'm saying."
"Chris tends to be a bit busy at nights, if you know what I'm saying."
Andrew Strauss
"Look, they can play it with green triangles up a tree in the middle of the night, for all I care, as long as Kevin Pietersen doesn't get a look in."
"Look, they can play it with green triangles up a tree in the middle of the night, for all I care, as long as Kevin Pietersen doesn't get a look in."
Geoffrey Boycott
"I faced Dennis Lillee in the middle of the night, pitch black it was, and I had my mother's pinny over my eyes as a blindfold, and that was rapid, let me tell you."
"I faced Dennis Lillee in the middle of the night, pitch black it was, and I had my mother's pinny over my eyes as a blindfold, and that was rapid, let me tell you."
David Gower
"Oh dear me, no. The only thing that ought to be pink after hours is a nice gin."
"Oh dear me, no. The only thing that ought to be pink after hours is a nice gin."
Kevin Pietersen
"Look buddy, I have made myself available for night-time cricket and I've been told that the day may yet come. I think that means I've got a chance. Right?"
"Look buddy, I have made myself available for night-time cricket and I've been told that the day may yet come. I think that means I've got a chance. Right?"
N Srinivasan
"As the country with the largest amount of floodlights we should definitely get to keep everyone else's pink balls."
"As the country with the largest amount of floodlights we should definitely get to keep everyone else's pink balls."
Ravi Shastri
"It's a sensational pink-ball maximum. Night Tests are absolutely amazing, and my goodness, thank heavens for these tracer bullets, which for once could actually come in useful rather than just being something I say all the time. What would you like me to say next?"
"It's a sensational pink-ball maximum. Night Tests are absolutely amazing, and my goodness, thank heavens for these tracer bullets, which for once could actually come in useful rather than just being something I say all the time. What would you like me to say next?"
Shane Warne
"Alastair Cook is going to be absolutely out of his depth with this pink ball. As for night Tests, I've had a few testing nights in my time, let me tell you eh eh eh? Did I mention - Cook will have no clue about how to captain at night."
"Alastair Cook is going to be absolutely out of his depth with this pink ball. As for night Tests, I've had a few testing nights in my time, let me tell you eh eh eh? Did I mention - Cook will have no clue about how to captain at night."
Piers Morgan
"Imagine how good Kevin Pietersen would be with a pink ball. Of course, the lickspittles at the ECB will never let it happen."
"Imagine how good Kevin Pietersen would be with a pink ball. Of course, the lickspittles at the ECB will never let it happen."
ODI bowlers of the world
"Please don't make us ever bowl with it. Or with anything. Ever again."
"Please don't make us ever bowl with it. Or with anything. Ever again."
All quotes and "facts" in this article are made up, but you knew that already, didn't you?
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