Jayawardene not a fan of day/night Tests

Sri Lanka batting legend Mahela Jayawardene is against the staging of day/night Test cricket, saying that it goes against all the traditions of the game.

Cricket's governing body is encouraging countries to organise day/night Tests to make the longer format of the game more accessible to the public by playing different hours with a pink ball.

Test cricket is played from the morning until early evening which is the time when people are usually are at work or in school which has seen a large drop in the number of fans at games.

The ICC wants to make Test popular just as the T20 format is thriving but Jayawardene, who scored more than 11000 runs in 149 Tests, does not think it can work, especially in Asia as most venues get dew in the evening.

Speaking after the Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's, Jayawardene said: "I'm not a huge fan of day/night Test matches. It's the only thing we've got with a bit of tradition now. Everything else is changing, but I think we should stick to day Test matches.

"Dew factor will come into play in a lot of other countries, especially in the subcontinent. I agree with trying to promote the game … there are a lot of other things people can do, but the only thing we have in cricket going for nearly 200 years is Test cricket with white clothing and the red ball.

"Why do you take it away from that?"

The first ever day/night Test is set to take place between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide in November this year.