Stuart Broad Says England’s Ashes Hopes Depend on Pink-Ball Performance in Brisbane Clash

England is currently reeling from the Perth defeat that was inflicted single-handedly by Travis Head. Their hopes to make a comeback in the Ashes depends on the next game at Brisbane. It will be a day-night contest, so any team can win it by planning the sessions smartly.

The legendary test bowler of England, Stuart Broad, has said that the pink-ball test is a “lottery” for England. He believes that the visitors need to plan their bowling in the night sessions creatively, as it could give them an edge over the Australian team.

"We know the pink-ball Test, having played a few ourselves, is a bit of a lottery. Ultimately the best team generally wins Test matches but this one, it's on a bit more of a knife edge of conditions." said Stuart Broad.

Analyzing the last three pink-ball matches of England in Australia, the visitors have lost all three by a big margin. They will be thinking of this certainly, however, this time they have a different leadership and playing strategies.

Stuart Broad believes that England can do a lot of damage to Australia with a brand-new pink ball in the night sessions. He further said that the pink ball doesn’t do much during daylight, so bowling with it at night seems to be a much better option.

"If you can get a brand new ball under the floodlights at the Gabba, you should be taking wickets and you can break the game open. It is all about timing a little bit of when you bowl with the brand new ball. That is why I don't like bowling first in pink-ball cricket because you bowl with a brand new ball in daylight and it doesn't do a lot.” said Stuart Broad.

It is certainly a fact that an old ball doesn’t seam or swing much during the night sessions. That is why teams usually prefer to bat first, so that they can negate this challenge before the arrival of twilight period.

"By the time you get to the twilight period the ball is 60 overs old and doesn't do anything - and the new ball comes too late in the day. Winning the toss and batting is pretty crucial in the pink-ball Test in my opinion. That is my feeling in pink-ball cricket. It is going to be one hell of a challenge." said Stuart Broad.

He then said that winning the pink-ball test matches are situational dependent. Teams that win the toss and start bowling with the new ball during the twilight period always gain an advantage over the other team.

"I'm not the biggest fan [of pink-ball Tests] to be honest. It's quite situational dependent, so if you can manipulate the game to get a brand new ball in the twilight, you've got a great chance of doing really well because the ball just seems to zip around a little bit more.” said Stuart Broad.

 

Mastering the Pink Ball Remains Elusive for Teams

Playing with the pink ball has remained difficult for teams over the past few years. Stuart Broad also acknowledged this fact, saying that many teams have yet to figure out how to play with the pink ball effectively.

"There's something about the pink ball, you just can't pick it up quite as well. You get no clues as well, so the seam is black against the pink background, whereas with a red ball and white seam you might see Mitchell Starc's in-swinger coming back into the stumps or scrambling around.” said Stuart Broad.

"It's just the lights are reflecting off the pink ball so it's almost like a big planet coming flying towards you.” added Stuart Broad.

The veteran bowler once again emphasized the importance of batting first. He said that even if teams get bowled out early, they still have a chance at night to put pressure back on the opposition by taking quick wickets with the new pink ball.

"That's why I think it is quite important to bat first because even if you are bowled out by tea when it's starting to go dark, you have a brand new ball under lights. And if you bat well you can control when you bowl in the game and in the day." concluded Stuart Broad.