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| From 2015 season, Cricket Switzerland is using Dukes pink balls |
Cricket in its traditional form was and is played primarily
with red leather balls. Cricket balls through the ages were red because the
ball-manufacturers in the 18th century England preferred 'red' dyes. This
tradition carried on for generations until the time cricket got immersed in the
world of commercialisation. Though, there has been one-day internationals with
coloured clothing, night games and T20's - cricket at its core is played with
red balls as it happens to be one of the few surviving cricketing traditions.
A GAME OF COLOURS - RED, WHITE, TO........PINK
The thought of coloured clothing disturbed this
'traditional' aspect of the sport. 'Red' ball, no longer fitted in with
coloured clothing. The colour of the ball was changed to 'white', which meant -
coloured clothing and night games were a reality and deemed practical for
growth of the sport. In recent years, the governing body of cricket along with
many cricket associations have pushed for day-night test matches (it has always
been a day affair) with white clothing and thereby the ball required a new
colour, something more conducive for the on-field personnel, spectators and to
the broadcasters. Red, not suitable under lights and white ball with white
clothing would be a disastrous combination - 'pink' became the unanimous colour.
The word 'pink' has a long history. In the 14th
century, anything that meant "to decorate with a perforated or punched
pattern" was called 'to pink'. Of course, the decorations were of the
flower 'Dianthus' which in Greek meant 'flower of Zeus', as named by
Theophrastus, a Greek botanist. The colour of these flowers gave rise to the
word 'pink' which we commonly use.
In the new millennium, an international cricket series
included five-day affair 'tests' and coloured clothing 'one-day
internationals'. With the advent of T20 cricket, the game shrunk - and the
three hour cricket became an instant hit. Various leagues most notably, the
Indian Premier League created ripples and cricket unleashed its newest and the
bravest commercial avatar. This fast food formula made money and thus rocked
the wooden chairs of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) - the governing body, the
custodian who has the ultimate say on the laws of the game!
CHANGING WITH TIMES IS SMARTNESS
Since that landmark MCC's decision in 2009, when the
committee waved a green flag to experiment with 'pink' balls, there has been
several matches that were played (on a trial basis) with these new coloured
balls. A women's international match between England and Australia as a part of
Pink Sunday programme to support Breast Cancer Campaign happened to one of the
first instances in international cricket to experiment with the pink balls.
In the last six years, there has been a first-class match
between Durham and MCC played under lights at Abu Dhabi, a first-class match in
the Caribbean and recently Cricket Australia has been at the forefront in
having the combination of 'pink balls', 'white clothing' and 'day-night' first-class
cricket work. It even created trials with the broadcaster last year and there
is very likely, later this year, cricket would witness another revolution - the
first day-night test match.
SWITZERLAND AMONG THE FEW TO USE PINK BALLS
For Cricket Switzerland and its cricket playing fraternity,
the decision to switch to pink balls starting from 2015 season was simple and
logical. Led by the President and ably supported by clubs and other committee
members, the idea of pink balls and its experimentation was met with little
resistance.
Switzerland doesn’t have the luxury or benefit of cricket only
grounds & stadiums with sight-screens, and the background can often be
white concrete sports buildings or apartment buildings, red brick housing, dark
red & brown mountains, trees & forests (green in the summer, brown/red
in the Spring and particularly in the Autumn).
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| 'Visibility' is key when you play in the pastures of Swiss Alps in three different seasons |
The above factors can make the traditional red ball
difficult to see as a batsman, even more difficult as a fielder. The white
alternative is better, but still not ideal as the facilities at public school
and sports authorities are often white or grey. So the white ball gets lost in
these too. Additionally the white ball tends to be of inferior quality compared
to the red and thereby quickly loses its shine and colour on the rough
artificial surfaces we have at most grounds, turning grey!
But mountains, buildings, stadiums, forests are not pink! Once
we got over the array of jokes about using pink balls, the trials (for over a
year) showed there are technical advantages of using the pink ball. They swing
much like the red ball, and the one used (Duke's) retains its shine longer than
the white and importantly its shape. Batsman see it better, spectators also find
it easier to follow and the aging umpires also find it easier to judge.
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| Pink balls are easy to spot and it helps umpires and the spectators |
Cricket Switzerland believes in maintaining the traditional
aspects of the sport (playing in whites); however, for practical purposes -
like in this case turning to 'pink balls', it is simply a case of discovering a
'winning formula'.
