Midweek Fixture with Dylan Cleaver: Why the pink ball test was a failure

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 27: Pink balls are seen during day one of the Third Test match between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide Oval on November 27, 2015 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo b

A mate of mine was travelling back to EnZed from a sabbatical in Sweden and decided to drop in to Adelaide for day four of the pink-ball test.

It sounds like he had a good time but it wasn't at the Adelaide Oval, where things had wrapped up late on day three.

I'm a sucker for a sob story, so Jimmy's plight is one of the reasons I'm handing the day-night concept a cautious fail mark.

While Nigel Llong stole most of the headlines - and this is one of the few occasions where you can genuinely say one wretched decision changed the outcome of the game - the real story of this test was that it wasn't very good cricket.

This test was nicely hyped, well patronised and produced a close and at times enthralling contest, but there was a noticeable absence of quality.

Batsmen struggled to get established against the pink ball and at times they looked spooked - aiming for fours and sixes as bail-out shots rather than digging in. Kane Williamson spent the series looking like he was facing a pumpkin but in Adelaide he looked like he was trying to locate a guava in the dark; a tiny little cute-as-a-button pink guava.

His first innings 22 off 58 balls was borderline painful. A guy that had batted with such style and tempo during the series scored his last three runs off 39 balls and was finally dismissed (a little dubiously I might add) when he played miles inside what would have been a full toss if he moved half a pace forward.

This sudden power shift between bat and ball is no doubt welcomed in some quarters, especially the quarter where the quick bowlers get changed. There was plenty of moaning about dominance of bat over ball at the Gabba and, in particular, the faded Waca but we need to be realistic here - the balance was shifted artificially, not because the bowlers suddenly rediscovered form en masse and the batsmen collectively lost the plot.

There are plenty of variables including pitch conditions and human error, so it would be premature to pin the low-scoring on the different ball and night cricket but I promise you this: if it is simply more difficult to bat in this 'format' we'll soon tire of 200-per-side matches.

The concept will no doubt be enthusiastically received. After the sad sight of thousands upon thousands of empty seats in Brisbane and Perth, the discovery of humans at the Adelaide Oval was welcome. The fact it was beamed into millions of Indian TV sets at primetime is another reason for administrative and fiscal endorsement.

The game was tight and Llong even provided one of cricket's immortal lines - "There's a mark on the bat but it could have come from anywhere" - to ensure the game will live forever in our collective memories.

So I should probably accept the fact there will be a lot more pink-ball cricket to come... I'll just make sure Jimmy buys day one tickets from now on.

GIVE 'EM A TASTE OF KIWI

As mentioned, you can make a good case that Llong's brainfart cost New Zealand the test and therefore the series. Here's another occasion where it isn't even a hypothetical. NZ v Australia at the MCG 1987, Australia are leading the series 1-0 and NZ need one more wicket late on day five to win the test and square the series. Then this happens...

SPORTS SHAREMARKET

I'm buying... Golden State Warriors
As a no-more-then-casual fan of the NBA it takes a lot to engage me in the regular season. The GSW, with the effervescent Stephen Curry pulling the strings, is making the season a laugher, streaking out to 19-0. As long as they keep winning, I'll keep watching.

I'm selling... Philadelphia 76ers
On the other side of the coin there are the hapless (hopeless?) 76ers. The team made famous by Julius 'Dr J' Erving are now being led to 0-18 by the likes of Joel Embiid. They actually have a chance of winning today, with the not-quite-as-terrible LA Lakers coming to town as part of Kobe Bryant's travelling retirement show.

I'M READING

Talking of Bryant, here's some sports geekery at its best from those wonderful data-heads

at fivethirtyeight.com

.

MY LAST $10

If this exercise has proved anything, it is that you should never listen to me for betting advice.

Last week: A round-ball expert who sits two desks away assured me that the TAB had their numbers back to front when having WaiBOP at $3.30 to beat Hawkes Bay in the ASB Premiership. The fact the odds shortened considerably tended to back him up but a late winner from Hawkes Bay capped off a miserable few weeks at the tote.

This week: With time running out until the end of the year, I have to hope for a couple of big collects to break even. I'm picking a multi this week with three giants of the Premier league playing at home against lower- to mid-tier teams. If Arsenal beat Sunderland, Chelsea beat Bournemouth and a team from Lancashire who wear red beat West Ham, I'll collect $23.10 and the comeback will be on.

Total spent: $230 Total collected: $175.60