Day and night Test cricket
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has agreed to the ECB's request to appear in the first ever day-night Test during the team's tour of England in May-June 2010. The ICC has not yet cleared the idea and its approval will be subject to suitable equipment being developed for the purpose. The decision taken by the BCB is a trend setting one but the reality is something different. The Test may end in 02 days' time in favour of England as the tropical Tigers are not accustomed to playing in the chilly weather of England during the month of May and June. The day time temperature in these months is much cooler than our winter and when we talk about the evening temperature it certainly will freeze our Tigers.
It was learnt that the idea was first proposed by the MCC during its World Cricket Committee meeting at Lord's this July as a way of making the game's longest and oldest format more appealing. The proposals included the use of pink coloured cricket balls. Our boys have problem playing the away moving balls (both Red & White) which is evident in majority of the Tests & 50 over matches they have played so far, with the new pink ball no one knows how it will behave, since the Test will be played in England and the experience of the English players are greater and they are used to the hostile weather conditions.
It will not be a wise decision for the BCB to play the 1st ever day and night Test match. There is no way that Bangladesh can practice for 3-4 months under lights as the Home of Cricket, the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur, is yet to see the floodlights, though some poles are existing already for over three years now. It is quite surprising to me that, ICC is yet to finalize the concept of day-night Tests but Bangladesh is willing to be the guinea pig of this experiment. Our players are young and they should be groomed properly so that after a few years' time (when the average age is 26) the team starts to deliver results on a regular basis, irrespective of the opponents. With the day night Test the young players sure will be tested and at the same time their confidence will be dented if they lose quickly.
I fail to understand why and how did BCB knowing all these are putting our Tigers in a difficult situation. If they lose they will only blame the players and the team management. The BCB authorities and the selectors will once again act as if they have nothing to do when the players fail to deliver. If we have to play the day-night Test, then it's better we play a domestic season or two at home first and then think about taking the field for playing such matches.
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