For a format that’s been around for a decade now, there’s still plenty of mystery surrounding day-night Test cricket.
“The pink ball under lights, I think it does do a little bit more,” Scott Boland said on Tuesday.
“I don’t think anyone really knows why, but it seems to come a bit more alive at nighttime. And if you can get a new ball with a longer last session, you can really make some inroads.”
Teams make no secret of the fact they want to be batting in the natural daylight and bowling when the sun’s gone down.
But just how much harder is batting when the floodlights are in full effect?
We’ve analysed every session from all the pink-ball Tests hosted in Australia and found a surprising trend; bowlers have as much success in the first session as the third.
Across 13 Test matches played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth, the figures make it pretty clear that the second session is the best time to bat.
Bowlers take a wicket every 33.99 runs between the two major breaks in play as the sun makes its final movement towards the horizon.
Surprisingly the day’s first session proves as challenging the nighttime session, which Australia’s Steve Smith says is due to the unusual characteristics of the pink ball.
“We know the game can change really quickly with the pink ball, different times of the day and at night,” Smith said on Wednesday.
“It’s hard to bat all the time. It’s a tricky one.
“The ball reacts differently to a red one, it can change quickly (and) can start moving randomly.”
Adelaide and Brisbane have hosted the majority of day-night Test cricket in Australia, with the Adelaide Oval playing host eight times and the Gabba three.
And there are significant differences between the two venues for pink-ball cricket with a major one being at which time the sun sets.
In Adelaide at the start of December, the sun sets at 8:16pm local, while in Brisbane it’s down at 6:30pm local.
Although the second NRMA Insurance Test match against England will be starting half an hour earlier compared to last year’s second Test against India (2pm as opposed to 2:30pm), it still leaves far more daylight for matches in South Australia than in Queensland.
The below images show the sky at the dinner break (between the second and third sessions) at the most recent Adelaide and Brisbane pink-ball matches.
A side-by-side of the sky during the dinner intervals of the most recent day-night Tests at the two venues // Fox Cricket
But does it impact the scores?
Scores in Adelaide have overall been higher than in Brisbane, but the pattern remains the same.
First session batting in Brisbane is fraught with danger, proving to be clearly the toughest time to build an innings in Queensland.
In the January 2024 Test between Australia and West Indies at the Gabba, WI lost 5-64 on day one, Australia lost 4-24 on day two and then 6-127 on day four as Shamar Joseph ran through their order.
One of the factors is how the ball ages. According to Smith, the abrasiveness of the Brisbane surface causes the Kookaburra to go softer than it would in Adelaide.
Pink ball ‘great for the game’ as Head eyes Gabba challenge
That might explain why batting at night is easier in Brisbane, with a softer ball less likely to swing greatly or misbehave.
“Here in Brisbane is a little bit different to Adelaide,” Smith said.
“In Adelaide, the wicket they have down there, it’s quite furry and the ball can stay harder for longer.
“Here it’s renowned to be quite a hard, fast wicket. And it’s difficult to change the characteristics of the wicket.
“So at times it (the ball) can get a little bit soft (and) you can see guys batting comfortably at stages.”
It’s no surprise to see Australia boast superior numbers to their opponents given their record of 12 wins and one loss in this country.
But the scale of their dominance is noteworthy, given they average almost twice that of the touring team in the second and third sessions of pink-ball cricket.
While the visiting batters have struggled in the day’s night session, averaging only 20.76 runs per wicket against the high-quality Australian attack, the Aussie batters haven’t had similar troubles and instead average almost 40 once the lights are on.
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT
Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (second Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood
