The pink-ball playbook: How England can win the day/night Ashes Test

A decade on from the first, day/night Tests are by now an accepted, though not universally adored, part of the cricketing calendar. Joe Root doesn’t think the Ashes needs them. Steve Smith struggles to see the pink ball used so as to be visible under lights. But they are here to stay. England and Australia’s Gabba day/night Test will be the 25th in men’s cricket. It’s not an enormous sample size – Zak Crawley has played 60 Tests and we still can’t work out if he’s any good – but there are enough trends to draw out to show just how different these are to traditional day games. And maybe there’s just enough data to work out how England can plot a path to a series-levelling victory.

The new ball is lethal

On a fundamental level, batting is harder, with an average of 24.19 runs per wicket in day/night Tests, compared to 29.35 in day Tests in the same time period. Drill down, and it’s clear where the challenge lies. Spin averages are slightly lower, but the drop in pace numbers is much more significant. In particular, opening bowlers make hay, and opening batters struggle. The pink ball hoops early and then stops swinging once the lacquer comes off, while the lush outfields make obtaining reverse swing a challenge. Over a third of day/night Test wickets fall inside the first 20 overs with either the first or second new ball. Opening partnerships in day Tests average over 10 runs more than those in day/night Tests. In the field, it’s imperative to maximise that new ball spell, while with the bat, survival is key. Or, if you’re England, hit the shine off it so it stops swinging sooner.

*Since start of D/N era

Spinners are peripheral, unless you’re Nathan Lyon

There are odd instances throughout the 25 day/night Tests of spinners playing an important role. England fans will have nightmares about the 2021 Ahmedabad two-dayer, in which Joe Root claimed 5-8 in between Axar Patel razing England twice. But those, by and large, are anomalies. In fact, Axar (14) and Root (9) are second and third on the list of most wickets by active Test spinners in day/night Tests. Way out in front is Nathan Lyon, with 43 wickets at 26. But as is the case more generally with the great Australian, he’s the outlier, not the rule.

Because wickets fall more quickly, Tests are shorter. In Australia, five day/night Tests have ended in three days, five more in four, while only three have crept into a fifth. That lessens the need for a holding role as well. In Australia, there are about three overs of seam bowled for every one over of spin in day/night Tests, while in day Tests in the same period, the ratio is about 2.3. Will Jacks might be in for England at No.8, but expect him to play more of a role with bat than with ball.

Spinners in day/night Tests in Australia

How to make the most of the twilight period – get funky after batting first

Of course, it’s not just the pink ball’s capacity for movement that makes batting harder; it’s the very fact that it’s pink, designed for visibility, but still, at times, devilishly hard to pick up. This is particularly true under lights in the last session of the day, when collapses are common. In Australia, the night session of day/night Tests sees almost as many wickets as the afternoon session, despite there being more of the latter.

Day/night Tests in Australia

If you combine the two, and bowl with a new pink ball under lights, the effect can be devastating. Given that, there is a case for declaring your innings early, so as to take advantage of the pivotal window, but it comes with risks, especially with sunset being earlier in Brisbane than in Adelaide, the day/night Test’s spiritual home – you have to declare earlier in the day to force the opposition in under the setting sun.

There have been five first and second innings day/night declarations with 350 or fewer on the board. Three led to wins, and two to defeats.

The first, by South Africa in 2016, saw Faf du Plessis, then public enemy No.1 in Australia for avoiding a ball-tampering ban, declare with himself 118 not out. He had spotted David Warner off the field, and decided to mess with the Australian batting order. It didn’t work, as the Aussies reached stumps unscathed and Usman Khawaja, promoted in Warner’s absence, made a century. South Africa and India each declared nine down before grabbing handfuls of late-night poles, but given these were against Zimbabwe and a Bangladesh side who had been skittled in the first innings of the game, neither was especially crucial to the result.

The best examples of a daring declaration working and failing actually come from England and Australia respectively. In 2023, before the day one declaration everyone remembers, Stokes called his team in after they had plundered 325-9 in 58.2 overs against New Zealand. England took three wickets in 18 overs before stumps, setting them on the victory path. A year later, Pat Cummins chose to declare behind against West Indies, with himself 64 not out, but his side managed only one wicket in 7.3 overs before stumps. West Indies, thanks to Shamar Joseph, sealed a victory for the ages by eight runs, and Australia were perhaps left ruing not making up the deficit first time around.

Where there isn’t cause for getting funky is at the toss. First innings batting averages are marginally higher in day/night Tests than in day Tests, but much lower for the other three innings. Win the toss, put up a score, and then, if the stars align, pull out to attack under lights.

Are Australia unbeatable?

Australia’s record in day/night Tests is exceptional, winning 13 and losing just one. Stuart Broad has described pink-ball Tests as “a lottery”, but, based on those numbers, that’s only true in the sense that, when you buy a ticket, you know you’re probably not going to win. But that record is, perhaps, slightly deceptive. In part, Australia’s day/night dominance is hard to distinguish from their dominance at home, with their win/loss ratio across all home Tests the best of any team in the day/night era, and while their home record in day Tests is not quite as good as their record in day/night games, there have been some pink ball close calls.

In the first day/night Test against New Zealand, Australia won by just three wickets and were 116-8 in their first innings before a generous piece of TV umpiring reprieved Lyon, allowing a recovery. In 2016, Pakistan came within 40 runs of chasing 490, with Asad Shafiq making a brilliant hundred. It’s as close as they have come to breaking their 30-year losing streak in the country. In 2020, India claimed a first-innings lead of 53 before being bowled out for 36, while even England have had a sniff here and there. In 2017, they were 169-3 chasing 354 before stumbling, while at Hobart in 2022, Australia were 83-4 before Travis Head rescued them in the first innings, bowled out for 155 in the second innings, and England were 68-0 chasing 271 before collapsing.

The key players to keep quiet

Much is made of Mitchell Starc’s exceptional day/night record, and with good reason. His tally of 81 wickets is almost double the next best, and his brand of new-ball swing would seem tailor-made for the peculiarities of the luminescent orb. But there are other players to fear as well. Cummins’ day/night average is nearly identical to Starc’s, and both pale in comparison to Scott Boland’s. Lyon’s is not in the same league, but still handy, while with the bat, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head have exceptional records.

There are, however, a few shafts of light. Beyond those two batters, the rest of Australia’s top seven have struggled. Steve Smith is human under lights, with just one pink-ball century to his name. Unless the eye blacks prove transformative, England will hope to keep him quiet.

Australia day/night Test bowling records

Perhaps of more concern are England’s own middling records in day/night Tests. Joe Root has just one pink-ball century, against West Indies in 2017, while Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope average 23 and 16.5 respectively in pink-ball Tests. Harry Brook and Ben Duckett have played one pink-ball game, that New Zealand Test in 2023, but it went well. Brook made two half-centuries and Duckett 109 runs in the game.

Most puzzling, however, is Stokes’ poor record in day/night Tests. As a bowler, he swings it more than any other Englishman, and yet averages 49. As a batter, he has a preference for pace and a place in the middle order, and so should thrive against a ball which loses its shine quickly, and yet he averages 19. Stokes will need to improve on both metrics for England to stand their best chance.

Selected day/night Test batting records

So what is England’s path to victory?

Depending on your natural levels of pessimism, you could take a bleak view of things. Australia’s three best performers in the first Test, Head, Starc and Labuschagne, all improve when the ball changes colour. Australia’s day/night record is imperious, and England’s record at the Gabba woeful. But England will also feel that their best chance to keep Head and Labuschagne quiet is to give a new, pink ball to Jofra Archer. They will get that chance. Pink-ball Tests are short, and reward fast scoring and creative thinking to cash in when conditions are in your favour and get bowling when they aren’t. If England can bat first, put up a score, and then have a run at Australia under lights, they could expose a middle order that fears the pink ball. A lot will have to go right, but all is not lost for England.