Bowlers in the pink for inaugural day-night test

Being the first ever Test match played using the day-night model means the players have absolutely no prior records to go off.

Peter Siddle, who missed the first two Tests of the three-match series, will join Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s new-ball attack.

The behaviour of the Australian cricket team has again come in for criticism on social media after the latest outburst. The Australian players were visibly shaken by last night’s incident.

“I think it was one year to the day since that disgusting accident happened, so I think it shook up a few of the players, luckily I think the guy was okay”.

Hazlewood got a bit of seam movement as the ball hit Guptill’s thigh on the back leg and was found plumb in front of the wicket.

Players and officials acknowledge Test cricket as the pinnacle of the game, but have been powerless to arrest a decline in crowds in most established markets.

Australia are contemplating playing two spinners with Stephen O’Keefe’s record in Adelaide bringing him into contention alongside Lyon.

Curators have left a green tinge on the usually dirt-dry Adelaide Oval pitch, expecting to give the bowlers some assistance in a series that has been dominated by the bat.

“We have also supplied a number of other ICC members like CSA (Cricket South Africa) and WICB (West Indies), and have been equally happy with its performances at domestic level”, Brett Elliot, Kookaburra managing director, said.

“Obviously, it was a pretty hard time for us all coming here past year just after the awful incident”, Smith said.

“I think people are voting with their feet”, said McCullum, with a crowd of 50,000 expected for the first day.

“That’s no different, a year on, here this week”. “We don’t often get the opportunity to play in such a big series and test ourselves against the best over a long period of time”.

Day-night tests, pink balls, four-day tests, limiting the first innings to 100 overs, doing away with the toss, giving the visiting team first option – the ideas range from the reasonable to the too exotic, but they have in common energised thinking on the future direction of the game.

Hughes was batting for South Australia in a Shield match against NSW at the SCG when he was struck on the back of the neck.

The contest will feature a pink ball that has been created to be visible in daylight and under the huge floodlights, and Smith has backed the idea, with the radical concept already having a positive effect on advance ticket sales.