Ashes Aftermath: England Rejects Idea of More Pink-Ball Tests in Australia

No more the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will be open to the idea of pink-ball day/night Tests to be included in Ashes tours to Australia in the future. This position arises following the defeat of Ben Stokes and his side by 8 wickets in a completely lop-sided match during the AUS vs ENG 2nd Ashes Test. According to reports, England came to this conclusion after the post-Ashes review meeting between ECB and Cricket Australia.

No more pink-ball Tests for England?

As reported by BBC Sport, the main topic of discussion among the senior representatives of the ECB and CA was how to maintain the status of the Ashes as a top Test series, especially at the time when the Test format was under pressure all around the world. Even though Australia and England are going to play a solo pink-ball Test at the MCG in 2027 to commemorate 150 years of Test cricket, that same article mentions that a former Australian player pushed CA to change the match into a red-ball game. Moreover, the report claims that England plans to reject any offers to play under lights during their next Ashes tour in 2029/30.

The last Test match during daylight before Brisbane for England was a day-night Test in 2023, where they triumphed over New Zealand by 267 runs. As a matter of fact, England has been involved in 8 pink-ball Tests ever since the inception of this format in 2015 and out of which only twice has the team emerged victorious. They have been defeated in all 4 day/night matches against Australia and lost another one against India. The two times they have succeeded in pink-ball Tests were against New Zealand and the West Indies.

On the other hand, Australia has a stunning track record in day-night Tests. They have triumphed in every pink-ball match except one, which occurred in 2022 against the West Indies at The Gabba, and that loss was partly due to an outstanding bowling performance by Shamar Joseph.