England will host day-night Test

Omnisports

May 19, 2016 8:16 AM

England will host a day-night Test as ECB chairman Colin Graves tries to maintain the popularity of cricket's longest format.

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Australia and New Zealand played the first day-night contest in Adelaide last year, with Pakistans tour Down Under later in 2016 also set to feature floodlit Test cricket.

Concerns over England's cooler climate have led some to suggest that day-night action would not be a success in the UK, but Graves says the ECB cannot ignore its popularity.

"You can't turn your back on it, it will happen," Graves told BBC Sport as England prepare to begin their Test summer against Sri Lanka at Headingley.

"We just have to decide when it is going to happen. We're doing a lot of work on it and we'd love to see day-night cricket."

Nevertheless, Graves would back a shake-up of competition in the Test arena, where the ICC's rankings are the only form of widespread attainment.

England's series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan had looked as though they would be contested in a points-based system across all three formats, although the plans appear to have been scrapped.

"We have to make Test cricket meaningful and we have to put some 'oomph' behind it," Graves said.

"Test cricket is safe if we do something about it, but I don't think it is safe if we do nothing. That is not an option. The International Cricket Council are looking at it and the other countries are looking at it."

Omnisports

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