Philander, Rabada voice doubts over pink-ball Test

Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada have joined captain AB de Villiers in expressing reservations about playing a day-night Test because of concerns over the pink ball. Cricket South Africa rejected Cricket Australia's offer of a day-night Test later this year because the South African players did not want to have a match of high stakes played in unfamiliar conditions. Philander and Rabada admitted they want more opportunities for practice matches and domestic day-night games before going into a pink-ball Test.

"If you are going there, you need to have experimented on the domestic front. We haven't done that so it would be a total blind eye going into it. I would like to have experimented before you actually go and do it," Philander said at a sponsor announcement on Wednesday.

When asked how many games he thought teams would need to get used to the pink ball, Philander was unsure but he did not think one practice game, which was what Australia offered South Africa on their visit later this year, would be enough.

"You have to try and test the pink ball properly," Philander said. "We are all professional players and I think sometimes people think we are quick to adapt to everything. As far as the pink ball is concerned, you are going to need a few games to get used to it."

Like de Villiers, both Philander and Rabada cited the uneven contest between bat and ball as the key reason for their hesitation to play a day-night Test. "There are a lot of rumours of the ball being okay during the day and then at night being a bit difficult for batters," Philander said. Rabada echoed those thoughts: "From what I hear, it's not a fair contest between bat and ball and that should be Test cricket."

But Rabada also took a view similar to Dale Steyn, and said that he would like to play a day-night Test at some point in his career. "I haven't given it much thought but I wouldn't mind playing in it. I've heard good things and I've heard bad things," Rabada said. "Perhaps they need to look into it more and perhaps make it a bit more fair. The positive is that it brings crowds in. They need to find a way to balance the two, so that it's good for cricket and good for publicising the sport. You need to find a way to come to a fair conclusion where both parties are happy."

Steyn had told cricket.com.au that he did not want to go through his "whole career without playing a day-night game" and wanted to test his skills with something different. He later clarified on Twitter that although he wanted to play a pink-ball Test in future, he did not want it to be the Adelaide match on South Africa's tour to Australia later this year.