Day-Night Test Cricket and the Pink Ball Explained

A pink ball Test is a day-night Test match played partly under floodlights, using a pink ball instead of the traditional red one. The red ball is hard to see under lights, and the white ball used in limited-overs cricket clashes with the white clothing Test players wear, so the pink ball was developed as a compromise. The first day-night Test was played between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide in November 2015.

Since then, the pink ball Test has become a regular feature of the Australian summer and an occasional one elsewhere. It plays differently to red-ball cricket, especially at twilight, and has produced some of the most dramatic collapses of the past decade. This guide explains how day-night Tests work, why the ball behaves the way it does, and the matches that shaped its reputation.

Key facts

• Day-night Tests start in the afternoon and finish under lights, typically around 9pm or later local time.
• The pink ball has extra layers of colour and lacquer to help it stay visible and keep its shine.
• The first day-night Test was Australia v New Zealand at Adelaide Oval, starting on 27 November 2015. Australia won by three wickets.
• Australia dominate the format: after the 2025 Gabba Ashes Test, they had won 14 of their 15 day-night Tests.
• The twilight period, when the sun sets and the lights take over, is usually the best time to bowl.
• Test cricket’s normal laws all still apply, but the breaks are reordered: tea comes first, then a longer dinner break.

Why Test cricket needed a pink ball

The obvious question is why Test cricket bothered. The answer is crowds and television. Most people work during the day, so traditional Test days, running from around 10am to 6pm, are hard for many fans to attend. Moving play into the evening means people can come after work and watch the final session in prime time on TV.

Floodlit cricket had already been around for decades in the one-day game, thanks to World Series Cricket in the late 1970s. But one-day cricket uses a white ball and coloured clothing. Tests use white clothing, so a white ball would be hard to pick out against the players’ kit. The red ball, meanwhile, goes dark under lights, especially as it gets older, making it difficult for batters and fielders to see.

Several colours were tested, including yellow and orange, before pink won out. It was visible to batters and fielders, showed up on television, and didn’t clash with white clothing. Pink balls were trialled in first-class cricket, including Australia’s Sheffield Shield, before the ICC approved day-night Tests.

How a pink ball Test works

On paper, a day-night Test is just a Test. It’s five days, with 90 overs scheduled each day, two innings per side and the usual Laws of Cricket. The differences are in the timing, the ball and the conditions.

The timings

Day-night Tests usually start in the early or mid-afternoon. In Adelaide, for example, play generally begins around 2pm and runs until around 9pm or later. The first two sessions are separated by a short tea break, and the second and third sessions by a longer dinner break. It’s the reverse of a normal Test, where lunch comes first.

	Traditional Test	Day-night Test
Ball	Red	Pink
Typical start time	Morning (around 10am to 11am)	Afternoon (around 1pm to 3pm)
First break	Lunch (40 minutes)	Tea (around 20 minutes)
Second break	Tea (around 20 minutes)	Dinner (around 40 minutes)
Final session	Late afternoon in daylight	Under floodlights
Main challenge	Varies with pitch and weather	Twilight swing and seam movement

Agreement between the teams

Under ICC regulations, a day-night Test can only be played if both boards agree. Some touring teams have been reluctant, especially when they have little experience with the pink ball. That’s why day-night Tests aren’t spread evenly around the world: most are played in Australia, where the format has been embraced by fans and broadcasters.

What makes the pink ball different

The pink ball looks like a dyed red ball, but it isn’t quite that simple. Red balls are made from leather dyed red and finished with grease and polish. Pink balls are coated with pink pigment and then extra layers of lacquer to keep the colour bright under lights and help the ball hold its shine.

The coating

That extra coating has two big effects. First, the ball tends to stay harder and shinier for longer than a red ball. Second, it can keep swinging well into an innings, because the lacquer protects the surface. A red ball in Australia often stops swinging after 20 overs or so. A pink ball can still move later, especially once the lights come on.

The downside is that once the lacquer wears off, the ball can go soft quickly, and the colour fades. Groundsmen have responded by leaving more grass on day-night pitches, partly to protect the ball from scuffing on abrasive surfaces.

The seam

Red balls normally have white stitching on the seam. Pink balls have used darker thread, including green and black, because batters reported that a white seam was hard to pick up against the pink. Being able to see which way the seam is pointing helps a batter read swing.

The manufacturers

There are three main ball makers in Test cricket, and each produces its own pink ball.

• Kookaburra: used in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and several other countries. The ball used for the first day-night Test in 2015.
• Dukes: used in England and the West Indies. Known for a pronounced seam and lots of swing.
• SG: used in India. The SG pink ball made its debut in India’s first day-night Test, against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2019.

The twilight period: why batting gets harder

Ask any player about pink ball Tests and they’ll mention twilight. It’s the period around sunset when natural light fades and the floodlights take over. Batters often say they find it hardest to see the ball at this time, and bowlers tend to find extra swing as the temperature drops and the air changes.

Captains plan around it. A team that bats first might try to make sure it has wickets in hand going into twilight, or might even declare just before it to have a crack at the opposition for a few overs under lights. In the 2016 Adelaide day-night Test, South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis declared on the first evening with nine wickets down so his bowlers could have a few overs at Australia’s openers under lights.

The first session, played in the afternoon sun, is often the best time to bat. Pitches can be good, the ball has lost a bit of its hardness, and visibility is excellent. Most pink ball Test runs are scored in these conditions.

Famous pink ball Tests

Australia v New Zealand, Adelaide, 2015

The first day-night Test was low-scoring and over inside three days. Australia chased 187 and won by three wickets in a nervy finish. The crowds were big, the TV ratings were strong, and Cricket Australia was convinced. Adelaide has hosted a day-night Test almost every year since.

Pakistan v West Indies, Dubai, 2016

The first day-night Test outside Australia saw Azhar Ali score 302 not out, the first triple hundred in a pink ball Test. It showed the format could produce big runs on flat pitches too.

New Zealand v England, Auckland, 2018

England were bowled out for 58 in the first innings, with Trent Boult and Tim Southee sharing the wickets in helpful conditions. New Zealand won by an innings, and it remains one of the most striking examples of what the pink ball can do.

Australia v Pakistan, Adelaide, 2019

David Warner made 335 not out, the highest score in a day-night Test. Australia declared on 589 for 3 and won by an innings.

Australia v India, Adelaide, 2020

Probably the most famous pink ball Test. India held a first-innings lead, then collapsed to 36 all out in the second innings, their lowest Test total, with Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins doing the damage. Australia won by eight wickets. India then recovered to win the series, completed by their famous win at the Gabba. Our highlights of India’s win at the Gabba in 2021 tell the rest of that story.

India v England, Ahmedabad, 2021

This day-night Test was over inside two days. Axar Patel took 11 wickets in the match, Joe Root took five for eight with his part-time off-spin, and England were bowled out for 112 and 81. It was a reminder that the pink ball doesn’t only help fast bowlers: on a dry pitch, the hard, shiny ball skidded on for the spinners.

Australia v West Indies, Brisbane, 2024

Australia’s first defeat in a day-night Test. Shamar Joseph, playing only his second Test and bowling with an injured toe, took seven for 68 in the second innings as the West Indies won by eight runs at the Gabba. It’s one of the great Test upsets of the century.

Australia v England, Brisbane, 2025

In the second Test of the 2025-26 Ashes, Joe Root scored his first Test hundred in Australia, while Mitchell Starc took six wickets in England’s first innings and passed Wasim Akram as the leading wicket-taker among left-arm fast bowlers in Tests. Australia won by eight wickets to go 2-0 up in the series.

Australia and the pink ball

No team has embraced the pink ball like Australia. They have played more day-night Tests than anyone else, and after the Gabba Test in December 2025 had won 14 of their 15. Home advantage plays a role, because Australian conditions and the Kookaburra pink ball are familiar to their players from domestic cricket.

Mitchell Starc has been the central figure. His ability to swing the new pink ball at high pace, and to bowl yorkers under lights, has made him the leading wicket-taker in day-night Tests by a distance. Australia often build their bowling plans for the whole series around him in the pink ball Test.

Other countries have been more cautious. India hosted their first day-night Test in 2019 and have played only a handful since. England have played several, mostly away from home. Some boards worry about dew in the evening in South Asia, which makes the ball wet and hard to grip, and about the format’s influence on results.

Women’s day-night Tests

Women’s cricket has embraced the format too. The first women’s day-night Test was the Ashes match at North Sydney Oval in 2017, when Ellyse Perry scored 213 not out. Day-night Tests have since become a regular part of the multi-format Women’s Ashes.

Pink ball Test myths and misunderstandings

“The pink ball always helps fast bowlers”

Not always. On flat pitches the ball can go soft and batting can be easy, as Azhar Ali and David Warner proved. In Ahmedabad in 2021, spinners did the damage.

“Day-night Tests are shorter”

They’re scheduled for five days and 90 overs a day, just like any other Test. Many finish early, but that’s down to conditions, not the rules.

“The ball is just a red ball painted pink”

The process is different. The pink ball is coated with pigment and extra lacquer, and the seam is a different colour. It behaves differently as a result.

“Day-night Tests don’t count towards the World Test Championship”

They count exactly the same as any other Test. A pink ball Test win is worth the same points as a red ball one. Our guide to the World Test Championship explains how those points work.

“The lights come on only at night”

Floodlights are usually switched on well before sunset, to help the transition. In many day-night Tests, they’re on from early in the afternoon session.

The case for and against day-night Tests

Supporters point to bigger crowds and better TV audiences, especially in Australia. They also like the drama of twilight, which adds a new tactical layer to Test cricket.

Critics argue that the ball can unbalance the contest between bat and ball, especially when it’s new and the lights are on. Some players have said that the pink ball is hard to see in the field, particularly for high catches against a dark sky. There are also concerns about dew in some countries, and about the difficulty of scheduling in places where evening crowds don’t materialise.

The debate is likely to continue. For now, the pink ball Test is part of cricket’s calendar, and the Adelaide day-night Test has become one of the most anticipated fixtures of the Australian summer. You can find more on the latest pink ball and red ball fixtures on our fixtures page.

Frequently asked questions

When was the first day-night Test?

Australia played New Zealand at Adelaide Oval in the first day-night Test, starting on 27 November 2015. Australia won by three wickets.

Why is the ball pink in day-night Tests?

A red ball is hard to see under lights and a white ball would blend into the players’ white clothing. Pink is visible in both daylight and floodlights and shows up well on television.

Does the pink ball swing more?

Often, yes, especially at twilight and under lights. The extra lacquer helps it keep its shine, which helps conventional swing for longer than with a red ball.

What is the lowest score in a pink ball Test?

India’s 36 all out against Australia at Adelaide in December 2020 is the most famous collapse in a day-night Test. England’s 58 at Auckland in 2018 is another.

What is the highest individual score in a day-night Test?

David Warner’s 335 not out against Pakistan at Adelaide in 2019.

Have Australia ever lost a day-night Test?

Yes, once. The West Indies beat them by eight runs at the Gabba in January 2024, thanks to Shamar Joseph’s seven for 68.

Pink ball cricket is still young, and every new day-night Test adds to its story. For more Test match drama, browse our classic highlights or head to the cricket hub.