Warwickshire propose Championship day-night trial

Warwickshire hope to play a Championship game under floodlights before the end of the season as they continue to explore the possibilities of staging England’s first day-night Test in 2017.

The club hailed their first trial game, a second XI match against Worcestershire held this week, as a success, though there were some concerns about the deterioration of the pink balls utilised. Both sides scored 300 in their first innings, with the three-day game eventually ending in a draw.

Warwickshire accept that time is running out if they are to have any hope of staging the Test between England and West Indies at the ground next August under lights. As a result, they would like to extend the trials as soon as possible and have identified the Championship match against Lancashire (scheduled to start on September 20) as a possibility. Both the ECB and Lancashire would have to agree to the move.

“There was no problem with visibility,” Ian Blackwell, the former England allrounder who is now an umpire, told ESPNcricinfo. “On a basic level, it was safe and there were no obvious issues for the batsmen, the fielders or us as umpires. The only issue was the wear of the balls.”

Two types of ball were used in the game. While both aged more in the way you might expect a white ball to deteriorate, the general view was the Dukes ball has fared slightly better than the Kookaburra. Players also reported that visibility of the Dukes ball, which has a more prominent, dark seam, was better than the Kookaburra’s relatively light, slight seam.

Of particular concern was the …

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