Pink ball with black stitching introduced

Australia

Australia's Sheffield Shield players will have a chance to try out the new version of the pink ball in their next set of matches, with the old light seam being replaced with black stitching.

One of the chief complaints from players, both in the Shield and in the first day-night Test last year between Australia and New Zealand, was that the seam was difficult to pick up.

This meant it was tough for batsmen to see the rotation of the ball, espeically from spinners. They also complained about the longevity of the colour on the ball, but the stitching seems to have taken precidence.

CA head of cricket operations Sean Cary said: "Feedback from the players following the first day-night shield round, as well as the historic day-night Test in Adelaide, is that while the ball had improved significantly, the seam was difficult to see at times. 

"To address these concerns, we’ve worked with Kookaburra to introduce a fully black seam to make it easier to see. It is an important change and we will continue to get the players’ feedback during the course of these matches. 

"Given the success of the first day-night Test, we want to give our players more opportunities to play with the pink ball particularly as we begin to look ahead to the 2016-17 season."

Tasmania coach Dan Marsh said of the new ball on the CA website: "I think we just have to embrace the pink ball, we've got white-ball cricket, red-ball cricket and now pink-ball cricket and it's a different game."

New South Wales spinner Steve O'Keefe was pleased about the new change to the ball: "Speaking to a lot of the batters, it seems to be the biggest reservation for the guys is picking up the seam."

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