With England and the West Indies on the verge of making cricketing history the evolution of the game marks a significant milestone for Edgbaston Stadium its 115-year history as an international venue. In the England & Wales Cricket Board and Warwickshire County Cricket Club announcing that it will host the first ever day/night Investec Test Match, in 2017, it also marks the 50th Test Match to be staged at one of the country’s premier venues.
Subject to ICC clearance, this first Test of the Series will be played, for the first time, with a pink Dukes ball between the hours of 2pm until 9pm. Thus, it is thought, giving more people the opportunity to experience first class international cricket between two of the most historically respected Test teams in the game.
Warwickshire Chief Executive, Neil Snowball, said: “Having staged the UK’s first day/night domestic match in 1997, bringing day/night Test cricket to England is an innovative and very exciting development for the game, and we’re thrilled that Edgbaston will be the first venue to host a match played in this format.
It has a great history of hosting and selling out some of the biggest fixtures in the game, with an iconic atmosphere.
Marking our 50th Test anniversary with a game of this magnitude will be a great occasion. We will be working very closely with our delivery partners and key stakeholders on our planning and operations to ensure that this first ever day/night Investec Test Match is a huge success.”
The day/night format for the Investec Test Match follows a successful trial at Edgbaston in August where a Second XI Championship match was staged between Warwickshire and Worcestershire in similar conditions. Australia and New Zealand contested the world’s first day/night Test Match in Adelaide in 2015.
