South Africa, who are scheduled to play 3 Test matches against Australia in Australia during the summer, are reluctant to play a day-night test citing lack of experience with the pink ball as a reason.

Cricket Australia announced last year that they wanted one of the Tests in the 3 match series to be a day-night match. Before this, Australia also hosted New Zealand in the first day-night test in November. However, despite the match drawing huge crowds and big television audiences all over the world, players from both sides complained that the ball was hard to see sometimes.

 South African players’ association Chief Executive Tony Irish said-

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The main reason is we feel disadvantaged. Not one of our players who will compete in that test has played test match cricket, or any cricket, with a pink ball.

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He also added that this reluctance on the part of the South African players is a sign of the importance they have placed on the series against Australia.

Incidentally, New Zealand players also had similar misgivings about last year's Day Night match in Adelaide but were given a whopping $777,000 by Cricket Australia to commit.

Last year’s Pink Ball match was hailed as a success by the organizers even though Australia won the match within 3 days. Adelaide tests are usually well supported by both local and visiting fans but the total attendance of 123,000 during the last Pink Ball test was a record in the city for a non-Ashes match.

The pink ball has been specially developed for day-night test cricket, replacing the traditional red ball as it becomes too difficult for the batsmen to see the red ball after dark. It is being hoped that the concept of a Test match being stopped due to lack of light would be done away with the advent of the Pink Ball.

Australia also host Pakistan for a 3 match Test series in the coming summer wherein the Gabba Test is being tipped to be a Day Night one.