England to host day/night Test against the West Indies next summer
Friday 7 October 2016 00:19, UK
Edgbaston will host the first day/night Test match to be staged in the UK next summer when England play the West Indies.
Subject to final confirmation from the ICC, the hours of play will be from 2pm to 9pm and pink balls will be used as the players wear traditional Test match clothing.
England are set to become the third Test-playing nation to host a Test match under floodlights, with tickets for the fixture between August 17 and 21 going on sale on Monday.
It follows Australia's day-night Test against New Zealand in Adelaide last year, while Pakistan are also preparing to host West Indies under lights in the UAE next week.
The announcement comes after a successful pink ball trial match between Warwickshire and Worcestershire's second XIs at Edgbaston in August.
The pink ball has also been used in the traditional county season curtain-raiser between MCC and the champion county.
ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said: "We're excited by the prospect of staging our first ever day/night Test Match.
"It's a great opportunity to attract more fans to the game and see how staging Test cricket in the afternoon and evening fits with working patterns and modern lifestyles, whilst maintaining the deep tradition of Test match cricket.
"We think it can help attract different fans and families to Test cricket and the innovation will certainly put the five-day game under the spotlight in a very busy summer for the game.
"A number of Test nations are looking at day/night Tests as a way of building further interest in our most traditional format.
"We're glad to be supporting that and adding to the understanding of how this might develop in different countries.
"Our partners can also see the clear opportunity and have been supportive as we build towards this big occasion next August.
"We would like to thank the West Indies Cricket Board and Warwickshire CCC in particular for their support.
"Edgbaston has a great tradition of staging Test cricket and we're really looking forward to working with them on this innovation."
Neil Snowball, chief executive of host club Warwickshire, added: "Bringing day/night Test cricket to England is an innovative and very exciting development for the game.
"We're thrilled Edgbaston will be the first venue to host a match played in this format.
"Edgbaston staged the UK's first day/night domestic match in 1997 and has a great history of hosting and selling out some of the biggest fixtures in the game.
"In turn, the Edgbaston atmosphere and match day experience has become iconic, with England having a fantastic record of victories here.
"Marking our 50th Test anniversary with a game of this magnitude will be a great occasion.
"We will be working very closely with our delivery partners and key stakeholders on our planning and operations to ensure that this first ever day/night Investec Test Match is a huge success."
As part of the preparations for the Test match, it has been agreed Derbyshire's tour match against West Indies on August 11-13 will be played under floodlights with a pink ball at the 3aaa County Ground in Derby.
