Australia adds more pink ball matches in domestic competition

'As we look ahead to future international seasons and the prospect of playing more Test cricket under lights, we want to give our players more opportunities to play with the pink ball'

Off the back of the spectacular success of the inaugural day-night Test last month, Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday, an additional day-night round of Sheffield Shield cricket this summer.

Round seven, starting from February 14 next year, will now be played under lights at the Gabba, Adelaide Oval and WACA Ground.

The round will be used to continue testing and tweaking the playing conditions and the pink Kookaburra ball that caused so much consternation in the lead-up to the inaugural day-night Test.

An incredible 123,736 people attended the three days in Adelaide to watch Australia beat New Zealand in a thriller with more than three million people watching the drama unfold in high definition on Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports coverage in the gripping final stages as the hosts wobbled to victory. 

"The public’s response to the first day-night Test was overwhelmingly positive and we’ve now had some time to evaluate feedback from everyone involved in the match," Cricket Australia's Head of Cricket Operations Sean Cary said.

"As we look ahead to future international seasons and the prospect of playing more Test cricket under lights, we want to give our players more opportunities to play with the pink ball.

"These matches will be used as part of our work to keep refining the ball in close consultation with Kookaburra."

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said the pink ball offered new challenges and endorsed its use in future day-night Tests.

"There's a lot been made that it's almost unplayable during those times," McCullum said after the match.

"But it's just a little bit more challenging during that stage.

"It doesn't mean you can't get runs, or survive, and ensure you're there to bat the next day when conditions will be easier.

"It is a quirk of this Test match, but there's some good players on show who I'm sure can negotiate those challenges."

Round two of the Sheffield Shield was also played under lights to prepare Australia's Test players for the ground-breaking fixture.