ICC will make a 'scientific decision' on whether to introduce pink ball day-night play

The ICC claims day-night Test cricket is very much on their agenda but not until the success of changing the colour of the ball has been justified by hard science rather than the anecdotal evidence of players.

“The MCC has been great in initiating trials around the world, but before we look at these projects we need to establish up front, from a scientific point of view, what makes sense,” Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager of cricket, said at the Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.

“The balls that have been developed so far are still a long way off being able to last 80 overs,” he added. “They just get too dirty. The beauty of the red ball is that it keeps its colour even when it’s old.”

Richardson’s view will seem unnecessarily cautious to those wanting to press ahead with a day-night version of the longer format, but plainly there are caveats, not least the floodlit aspect of a game originally intended to augment the glory of a summer day.

The twilight zone, when the contrast between the floodlights and the background is at its weakest, is thought to be one sticking point, and it may have been more than coincidence that Steve Harmison struck twice at dusk on Tuesday.

On the other hand it could just have been his customary pace and bounce that did for David Sales and the diminutive James Taylor, who was caught behind for a duck.

“We need to commission a university to tell us what is the best option for colour combination for ball and sightscreen,” said Richardson, who watched Tuesday's play.

“I’d be surprised if we couldn’t find a ball that worked within 12 months, even if it was developing a better white ball.

“Down the line there are going to be some markets that prefer to watch Test cricket in the evenings and if we can schedule matches at that time we must do it. There will be a solution if there is a will for day-night Test cricket.”

Durham’s bowlers certainly coaxed more from the pink ball here than their opponents, dismissing MCC for 162 in 45.5 overs, a lead of 297.

Leg-spinner Scott Borthwick was the leading Durham bowler, taking four for 27, his wickets a happy antidote to the pair he recorded when his captain did not enforce the follow-on.

Only 19, Borthwick spun the ball sharply with enough control to scythe through MCC’s tail in only his second first-class game. He even found himself on a hat-trick after dismissing Tim Murtagh and Jon Lewis.

He did not get one, a near-miss that also befell Steve Kirby when he dismissed Borthwick and Dale Benkenstein with successive balls in Durham’s second innings.

Before Borthwick’s efforts, Callum Thorp and Harmison had managed to move the ball around, with swing and seam respectively. Indeed, the pair threatened to run through MCC until Alex Gidman, then James Foster, lent their support to Dawid Malan’s stoic occupation.

Usually an exciting strokeplayer, Malan dropped anchor until he was sixth man out for 41, though his intransigence was not as dour as Kyle Coetzer’s, the Durham opener batting for eight hours and 41 minutes until he became one of four victims to Malan’s leg-spin.

Resuming on his overnight score of 123, Coetzer achieved the rather inglorious feat of seeing his run-rate decrease the longer he batted, some effort when the opposition bowlers are on their knees.

His eventual 172 may have been a personal best, but he almost batted himself to a standstill.

Old pros used to call it running out of petrol, an irony in a country boasting such massive oil reserves.