Smith using eye blacks to mitigate pink-ball challenge, says the pink-ball Test is ‘just a completely different game’.
Steven Smith bats with ‘eye blacks’ ahead of pink-ball challenge.
During the second Ashes Test at the Gabba, Steven Smith appears to be following in the footsteps of former West Indies hitter Shivnarine Chanderpaul by sporting “eye blacks” on his cheeks. He trialled the anti-glare strips while batting in the nets during Australia’s floodlit training session on Sunday evening ahead of Thursday’s day-night, pink-ball encounter in Brisbane.
Smith has participated in 13 of Australia’s 14 previous pink-ball Test matches, but he hasn’t adapted to the format as well as red-ball cricket. In day-night Tests, he has only scored 100 runs at an average of 37.04 in 24 innings. With 35 hundreds in 190 innings at an average of 58.31, his performance in daytime Tests is far better.
“The pink ball in general is just a completely different game,” Smith had said during Australia’s most recent day-night Test match, a 176-run win over West Indies in Jamaica in July. “Personally, I find it quite tricky just picking the ball up at certain times of the day and things like that, and the way it behaves is completely different to a red one.
“I think people like the spectacle. But as a player, particularly as a batter, it’s very challenging. The game can so quickly, and things change really quickly, which you probably don’t get so much with a red ball. But yeah, people like watching it, I suppose, so I guess it’s here to stay.”
Alastair Cook, who played three day-night Tests for England, has identified focusing on the pink ball’s black seam as the biggest challenge for batters due to glare. “When the floodlights shine off the pink leather, it distracts from focusing on the black seam – and if you can’t see the seam as a batsman, you’re in big trouble,” Cook wrote in his Sunday Times column.
“Whatever type of cricket you are playing, the seam is your clue as to how the ball will behave… At least you have a chance with a red ball. If it’s a pink one under lights, it’s nigh-on impossible to pick up the seam and, therefore, decide with confidence which way the ball might move.”