The Athletic\u00a0has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to join.<\/em><\/p>\n No team sport is quite so obsessed by the colour of the ball as cricket.<\/p>\n Where the annual shift in English Premier League footballs from white to yellow during winter passes without much comment, red-ball and white-ball have become shorthand to distinguish between cricket\u2019s two main codes: multi-day and one-day matches.<\/p>\n But at Brisbane\u2019s Gabba on Thursday, Australia and England will use a ball of another colour.<\/p>\n The second match in the 2025-26 Ashes series will be only the 25th pink-ball Test in the format\u2019s 148-year history. They were initially devised as an innovation to make multi-day cricket playable at nighttime \u2014 the standard, dark red ball is too difficult to see under floodlights \u2014 and thereby boost the sport\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n Five-day Test matches unavoidably span weekdays, and later start times (play begins at 2pm local time on Thursday, compared to 10.20am for the first Test in Perth) enable fans to work at least a half-day before attending matches, while simultaneously pushing the final session of play into primetime for domestic TV audiences.<\/p>\n This being cricket, it is not quite that straightforward.<\/p>\n The specifics of each ball are fundamental to how each game progresses, and there is no global standard within Test cricket. In the most recent Ashes series in 2023, Australia complained that the umpires\u2019 decision to replace a red ball that had gone out of shape cost them the decisive Test match at the Oval.<\/p>\n Colour is not the only thing that separates red, pink and white balls: the manufacturing process is slightly different for all three. They share the same fundamentals<\/a>: a spherical cork core, spun in yarn, bound in leather, and stitched together to create a seam. In men\u2019s cricket, the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (about 160g), and must measure 8.81-9 inches (22.5cm) in circumference \u2014 a slightly lighter, smaller version is used in the women\u2019s game.<\/p>\n \n The pink ball on the outfield under the Gabba\u2019s floodlights (Chris Hyde\/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Leather\u2019s natural colour after tanning is off-white; it is bleached before use in white balls, and dyed before use in red or pink balls.<\/p>\n Where the red ball is greased and waxed before it is finished with a thin cellulose lacquer, the white ball has extra polish applied to it and the pink ball is given a thin spray-coat of paint before they are both finished with a slightly thicker lacquer. It is an intricate process, and only three manufacturers \u2014 Kookaburra, Dukes and SG \u2014 create balls used for the international level.<\/p>\n The disparities are subtle but international bowlers will tell you that each coloured ball not only feels different in their hand to the other, but behaves differently too.<\/p>\n The pink ball is by far the newest type \u2014 it was only cleared for use in Test cricket a decade ago \u2014 and is therefore treated with the most mistrust. Many players believe that it is much more unpredictable than the red ball in how it moves laterally, and that it has an outsized impact on the game.<\/p>\n \n Australia\u2019s captain Pat Cummins, who will miss the Brisbane Test, poses with the pink and red cricket balls (Matt King\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you need it in an Ashes series \u2014 absolutely not,\u201d the England batter Joe Root, the second-highest run scorer in Test history, said on Sunday. \u201cI don\u2019t mind it. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s as good as traditional Test cricket. But it\u2019s in the schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n The former England fast bowler Stuart Broad who, like Root, has played in each of his country\u2019s seven previous day-night Tests, subscribes to the widely-held view that the pink ball is significantly more difficult to face in the so-called \u2018Twilight Zone\u2019 as night starts to fall: \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a lottery,\u201d he said on his For the Love of Cricket podcast<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe previous Tests I\u2019ve played with a pink ball, it hasn\u2019t got darker until later,\u201d added Root. \u201cHere in Brisbane, it looks like we\u2019ll have half of a day under floodlights. The twilight phase is in the middle session, but that usually comes around the back end of the second session and the start of the last session.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be different elements to contend with, but that is all part of the fun, right? Can we be skilful enough and brave enough to be better than Australia in those big moments?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to play it, and just got to make sure we\u2019re better than them at it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Stuart Broad prepares to bowl with a pink ball at Edgbaston against the West Indies in 2017 (Nick Potts\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Broad also suggested that the toss becomes disproportionately important<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fifteen of the 24 (62.5 per cent) previous pink-ball Tests have been won by the team batting first \u2014 and therefore starting their first innings in daylight \u2014 compared to 194 out of the 396 (49 per cent) red-ball Tests in the same timeframe.<\/p>\n Australia head into Thursday\u2019s Test in Brisbane with a formidable record in day-night Tests: they have played 14 pink-ball matches, more than any other team, and have won 13 of them. The only exception was in January 2024, when hitherto unknown Guyanese fast bowler Shamar Joseph took seven second-innings wickets to lead West Indies to an improbable and historic victory at the Gabba.<\/p>\n \u201cI could think of it as it was yesterday,\u201d Joshua Da Silva, their Trinidadian wicketkeeper, tells The Athletic<\/em>.<\/p>\n Da Silva, who top-scored with 79 in West Indies\u2019 first innings, jokingly suggests an element of sorcery in the pink ball\u2019s behaviour. \u201c(Facing) the pink ball during the daytime, it seems like the flattest track in the world to bat on,\u201d he says. \u201cIt feels like you\u2019re just always going to score runs. But as that little \u2018Twilight Zone\u2019 hits, and the sun is setting\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe call it \u2018a jumbee\u2019 in the Caribbean: a jumbee hits, and the ball starts to dance all over and do whatever it wants. That\u2019s when it gets challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Joshua Da Silva eases the pink ball through the covers as night closes in at Brisbane (Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His comments reflect a common but misplaced perception that playing under floodlights makes the ball swing more in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of the research I\u2019ve done about batting under lights \u2014 and the impact of floodlights on cricket-ball swing \u2014 suggests that visibility is the real issue,\u201d Aaron Briggs tells The Athletic<\/em>. Briggs should know: he completed a PhD on \u2018The aerodynamics of cricket ball swing\u2019 at the University of Cambridge in 2022, and now works as a consultant at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).<\/p>\n \u201cBall-tracking data tells us how much the ball is moving, and you don\u2019t see any indication that the ball swings or seams more in twilight,\u201d Briggs says. \u201cSometimes, some dew forms on the pitch (at night) which might influence conditions a bit. But the difficulty stems from the fact that it\u2019s just not as easy to see the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Briggs believes that the reputation of the \u2018Twilight Zone\u2019 stems partly from its nomenclature. \u201cIt helps that it\u2019s got a great name,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Batters are used to tracking different-coloured balls according to the format, but the pink ball under floodlights presents a unique challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cIn twilight, you transition from tracking a dark object on a light background to tracking a light object on a dark background,\u201d Briggs explains. \u201cSomewhere in the middle, it becomes very difficult to see. As soon as that ball does anything that you\u2019re not expecting, your reaction time increases substantially and, at international level, that really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Alastair Cook, the former England captain, believes that the visibility issue arises \u201cwhen the floodlights shine off the pink leather\u201d, making it harder to see the ball\u2019s black seam. \u201cIf you can\u2019t see the seam as a batsman, you\u2019re in big trouble,\u201d he wrote in his Sunday Times column<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was noticeable that Steve Smith, Australia\u2019s stand-in captain again in Brisbane in the absence of the injured Pat Cummins, batted in the nets this week during the hosts\u2019 floodlit session wearing \u2018eye blacks\u2019 \u2014 the small, black, adhesive strips worn on the cheekbone which are commonplace in several U.S. sports \u2014 under his eyes to reduce potential glare from the floodlights.<\/p>\n \n Steve Smith wearing the black strips under his eyes at Australia\u2019s net session in Brisbane (Matt Roberts\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The strips are designed to absorb the light that would otherwise reflect off the skin. The West Indian batter, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, pioneered their use most prominently in cricket.<\/p>\n Several former players, including Australia\u2019s Chris Rogers and England\u2019s Gary Ballance, have cited their colour-blindness as a major obstacle for them in pink-ball matches.\u00a0Root, at least, has welcomed the adoption of the black seam in preference to its white predecessor on the pink ball.<\/p>\n \u201cThe white seam was a nightmare \u2014 it was just like a bullet,\u201d he told reporters. \u201c(The black seam) felt pretty good when facing it. It\u2019s actually a nice way of really focusing on the ball: look hard at that seam and give yourself as many cues as you can from that point of release.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course it\u2019s going to have its different challenges and nuances from the red ball, but that\u2019s all part and parcel of it.<\/p>\n \n Joe Root is bowled by Scott Boland during the day-night Test between England and Australia at Hobart in 2022 (Steve Bell\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It can still be useful for bowlers to buy into the myth that the ball moves more under lights. When it comes to swing, perception can become reality.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people think that conditions are suitable for swing bowling, they attempt the skills at a much higher rate, and therefore see a much higher rate of the ball actually swinging,\u201d Briggs says. \u201cIt is self-reinforcing\u2026 the ball won\u2019t swing unless you try to swing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever the reason, batting against the pink ball under floodlights is a significant challenge: in Australia, a wicket falls every 45.1 balls during the third and final session of a day\u2019s play in each pink-ball Test, a drop from once every 52.8 balls across the first and second sessions.<\/p>\n It is a dynamic that lends itself to unusual tactics: on the opening day of England\u2019s most recent pink-ball Test, in Mount Maunganui in February 2023, captain Ben Stokes declared their first innings at the fall of their ninth wicket, allowing them 18 overs to bowl at New Zealand under floodlights. And it worked. England took three early wickets, and went on to win by 267 runs.<\/p>\n It made for an exhausting week for New Zealand\u2019s Neil Wagner, who bowled 16.4 overs on the opening day then batted as a nightwatchman under floodlights. \u201cYou go back to the hotel, it gets to midnight, and your head is still busy,\u201d Wagner explains to The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cYou don\u2019t turn off until 1am, and then you just naturally wake up at 7.30am. You try to kill time until the day starts, walking around, but you feel like you\u2019re constantly on.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt shattered. It does play a little bit with the whole rhythm that you\u2019re used to in a Test match.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Neil Wagner (centre) celebrates the dismissal of England\u2019s Ben Foakes in the twilight in Mount Maunganui (Phil Walter\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A word of caution: it is possible to overthink the dynamics of a pink-ball match and forget the fundamentals of the game.<\/p>\n In February 2021, England were so obsessed with the notion of swing under the floodlights that they picked four seamers for a Test match in Ahmedabad. Their opponents, India, took one look at the dry, dusty pitch and loaded their side with three spinners, who took 19 wickets between them in a 10-wicket win. England\u2019s record in day-night Tests overall reads: won two, lost five.<\/p>\n Large chunks of pink-ball Tests still play out during daytime, and the pink ball tends to stop swinging quicker than a red ball.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you\u2019ll see is that swing drops off a cliff in the same way that it does in white-ball cricket,\u201d Briggs explains. \u201cThat\u2019s just because you can\u2019t polish the ball in the same way, so the swing doesn\u2019t last.\u201d<\/p>\n Wagner believes that dynamic is exacerbated by the ICC\u2019s ban on using saliva to polish the ball, a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. \u201cWhen the pink ball first came in, you could get a bit of shine back on it,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, it seems to stop after 12 or so overs \u2014 a bit quicker than a red ball.\u201d<\/p>\n \n The West Indies\u2019 Kevlon Anderson is bowled by Mitchell Starc \u2013 the king of the pink ball \u2013 in July (Randy Brooks\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n England\u2019s players have far less experience of pink-ball cricket than Australia. The UK\u2019s climate \u2014 with chilly summer evenings \u2014 is ill-suited to the format. England staged its only day-night Test in 2017, and ditched the pink-ball rounds from the County Championship a year later.<\/p>\n In Brisbane, they will cling to the fact that Australia\u2019s only pink-ball defeat came at the Gabba, which was chosen to host the lone day-night Test in this series ahead of the Adelaide Oval.<\/p>\n A decade into the pink-ball experiment, various unknowns remain: how will the high humidity levels in Brisbane affect its behaviour this week? Is trying to hit the shine off the new ball a viable strategy, as it is in white-ball cricket? Will dew play a significant role?<\/p>\n If anyone is equipped with answers, it is Mitchell Starc: Australia\u2019s spearhead has taken 81 wickets in pink-ball Tests, nearly twice as many as any other bowler, including 6-9 against West Indies in Jamaica<\/a> earlier this year, as the hosts were bowled out for 27.<\/p>\n England, beware.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30054235\/GettyImages-522522512-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Australia's](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30054243\/GettyImages-862303338-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Stuart](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30050742\/GettyImages-835117614-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Joshua](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30051118\/GettyImages-1959425082-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/01015813\/GettyImages-2249136490-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30050807\/GettyImages-1365014791-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Neil](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30052655\/GettyImages-1466585167-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/30050816\/GettyImages-2224214454-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n