17 December,2009 04:13 PM IST | | AFP
International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan said on Wednesday he would be "surprised if we don't see day/night Test cricket within the next two years".
While attendances for Test match cricket in England remain strong, crowds for five-day cricket in other leading nations have been in decline for several years.
As part of plans to boost Test match crowds around the world, the ICC has been looking at staging five-day games in a day/night format - something that currently happens only for one-dayers and Twenty20 internationals.
Trials withu00a0pink balls for use under floodlights are underway with official determined to boost global interest levels in Test cricket.
The ICC is also looking into creating a World Test Championship although Morgan, speaking at a meeting of the Indian Journalists' Association at the Oval here on Wednesday, shied away from the term and stressed the need for Tests to have "context".
Morgan, a former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said: "I'd be surprised if we don't see day/night Test cricket within the next two years, surprised and disappointed.
"In terms of each Test match having a context beyond bilateral series, real progress could be made soon," he added, saying there might be a "climax" although he didn't say how this would be achieved.
"We want to ensure Test match cricket is as popular around world as it is in this country (England). The ECB have little trouble in selling out the first four days of a Test."
Day/night matches were pioneered in Australia in the late 1970s during the "rebel" World Series Cricket contests bankrolled by media businessman Kerry Packer when 'Super Tests', with players wearing coloured clothing and using a white, rather than a traditional red, ball.
"If you look at a country like Australia with big stadia and very hot conditions, Australia is made for day/night Test cricket," Morgan, who explained ICC wanted Tests played in as "close to white as possible", said.
"Eighteen months ago, I wouldn't have been overly enthusiastic, thinking of the tradition and the records," the Welshman added.
"But the way Test match cricket has changed over 130-odd years, I see (day-nighters) as a very good reason for bringing the crowds out.
"At ICC, we regard Test cricket as the pinnacle of the game. It's the form of the game cricketers seek to play.
"It is interesting Test cricket has endured and I am sure it is going to continue to thrive. The ICC has recognised that in some countries Test match cricket is not that popular in terms of people paying at the gate.
"It needs to be a competitive event and it needs pitches that provide a good balance between bat and ball," added Morgan following some recent 'run-fests' on batsman-friendly surfaces that many critics claim have harmed Test cricket.
"All 10 full member boards aree switched on to improving Test match cricket and attendances at Test matches.
"That includes the ECB because if Test match cricket were to wither around the world, it would cause a problem here.
"Day/night cricket is less important in England and Wales because the grounds, which are relatively small sell-out. It's more important in countries with large stadia and hot conditions."
India's rise to number one in the world Test rankings has appeared to prompt a change of heart among administrators at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), cricket's most financially powerful national governing body.
They had been planning to change their scheduled three-Test home series against South Africa in February into a five-match one-day campaign.
But now plans are being mooted for a two-Test series, with three one-dayers, although traditionalists argue a Test contest between such strong nations ought to feature at least three matches.
"I do believe the efforts of the BCCI to re-arrange the programme so that there might be a two-Test series, this is an interesting shift by the BCCI," Morgan said.
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