Australia v. Pakistan. 2 Tests.

[K]

Lights on: Seven open to three day-night Tests

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/lights-on-seven-open-to-three-day-night-tests-20191206-p53hqg.html

"Lewis Martin, the new head of sport for Channel Seven, said three pink-ball Tests a summer - most likely in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide - would help the sport sell itself in prime time in an increasingly crowded broadcasting and streaming market.
...

Cricket Australia is keen for two day-night Tests against India next summer, while chief executive Kevin Roberts said last week that in his "heart" he would like all four Tests to be under lights.
...

Seven was delighted with audiences for the day-night clash against Pakistan in Adelaide, despite the contest being rain-marred and over in four days...

Seven said the final session, with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne dominating, enjoyed an average of 868,000 viewers across the country."

[K]

Geoff Lawson:

Night terrors: The more variables the better in battle of bat and ball

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/night-terrors-the-more-variables-the-better-in-battle-of-bat-and-ball-20191206-p53hq6.html

"The ball hitting the pitch is the vital ingredient for producing cricket of skill and memory. Sometimes it swings before it lands, but these Adelaide pink balls decided against that. Recollections of high-scoring draws are confined to yet another batting record and the monotony of the procedures. Test matches that arrive at memorable conclusions generally have seen 38, 39 or 40 wickets fall.
...

The behaviour of the ball wasn’t the factor some believed, and the pitch was an indolent bystander.
...

Batsmen will tell you that picking the rotation of the seam from slow bowling is more difficult with a black seam on a pink ball under lights. So even spinners should reap a harvest in the gloom. The basis for this is more to do with how the human retina deciphers and refreshes colours, and "afterimages" remain for hundredths of a second longer. That’s all it takes to make a decision more challenging.

A red ball actually leaves shorter afterimages, so, theoretically, if the artificial light is strong enough then it would be easier to use a normal cricket ball, but perhaps that doesn’t suit the marketing department so much.
...

The white ball is another chameleon that is never sure when it should deviate or stick to its path. Players have not been happy with the qualities of the red Kookaburra in recent times and work has been done to help it swing once more. The English Dukes ball has been used in Australia because it tends to swing, be shined and continue to swing.
...

The general point is that if the pitch and the ball aren’t giving the bowlers something then there is a limited contest and the game is lopsided in favour of batting. Good cricket at any level has always been about the balance between willow and leather. Twenty20 is the vehicle for batting bias these days and there is plenty of that to watch."

[Pies4shaw]

3 wickets in an entire 4-day match at the MCG - it’s clearly still a road.

[K]

Meanwhile, in Rawalpindi...

SL 1/96 (30.1).

Obviously another very flat track.

[K]

M. Knox:

"Twenty20 cricket was always going to threaten the five-day game, but it was expected to cause erosion among the young. Instead, its most damaging impact has been among the old. ... How dispiriting it is to have seen Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz, their two premier pacemen, retreating to the senior citizens’ home of Twenty20 speciality. In this, Pakistan is following the trend in the West Indies and Sri Lanka, where the reward for experience and achievement is to focus one’s commitment on the least demanding format. Rather than the pinnacle of the game, Test cricket in these countries is becoming a proving ground for young players, before they semi-retire into the short form, for their countries and, more attractively, for local franchises. For world cricket, with South Africa in strife, the pool of top-tier Test nations is shrinking down to India, England, Australia and, fingers crossed, New Zealand. Never has the call for greater direct financial subsidy for weaker countries been more urgent."

(SMH)