Kent prepare for pink-ball Championship return
Following a gruelling win at Tunbridge Wells, Kent return to Specsavers County Championship action with a day-night match at The Spitfire Ground on Monday (25 June, 2pm start).
It will be the second first class fixture to be played with a pink ball at Canterbury after a one-off Championship trial in September 2011 against Glamorgan with two different brands of ball used.
Click here to save on gate prices >
One other significant difference this year is that whereas pink Dukes balls will again be used for the Division Two fixtures, pink Kookaburras will be used for the first time for the Division One games – starting at the Ageas Bowl.
Alan Fordham, the ECB’s Head of Cricket Operations, explained: “The view of the ECB Cricket Committee when the first round of day-night matches was reviewed last autumn was that as pink-ball cricket looks likely to continue at international level, it is important for us to continue to provide competitive experience of those different playing conditions for county players.
“This year we’ll be able to compare the performance of the pink Dukes in Division Two with the pink Kookaburras in the Division One fixtures.
“The spread of matches across a handful of rounds provides us with the opportunity to assess different conditions at different stages of the summer. We weren’t blessed with great weather for the pink-ball round in 2017, so hopefully with matches in June, July and August, we might even get some warm summer evenings for Championship cricket at some stage this year.”
Durham, Essex, Nottinghamshire and Sussex will join Hampshire and Northants in hosting a day-night Championship fixture for the second year running, while Derbyshire and Surrey will be staging their first – although Derbyshire did have floodlit first-class cricket at the 3aaa County Ground last summer as they hosted West Indies in a three-day match.
Hampshire chairman, Rod Bransgrove, added: “Floodlit pink ball fixtures are already a feature of Test match cricket in some countries and have been introduced here with the intention of enhancing the domestic programme.
“Hopefully, we’ll see a good number of supporters coming along after work and cheering the team on while enjoying some competitive evening cricket.”
Kent are back in Championship action at 2pm on Monday (25 June) with a day-night match against Middlesex at The Spitfire Ground.