ECB consider annual day-night Test after Edgbaston success

The England & Wales Cricket Board is looking into the possibility of making the floodlit Test an annual feature of the English summer after the first game at Edgbaston was hailed as a success.

Warwickshire enjoyed their biggest crowd for a non-Ashes Test on the second day of the match between England and West Indies and despite the one-sided nature of the contest the club exceeded all its commercial targets for the game

Telegraph Sport understands the ECB is now considering holding a floodlit Test every year in order to build up momentum for the concept in this country. The board are will hold a detailed review of last week’s match both on and off the field and will examine whether details such as start time was right or if floodlit Tests should be held at a different stage of the summer.

Next year India tour England along with Pakistan. One stumbling block for next summer will be that a later start time here would not be popular with Indian broadcasters given the time difference between the two countries would mean the Test finishing in the early hours of the morning in Asia.

In 2019 Australia tour England and it had been assumed the next floodlit Test would be in 2020 because Ashes tickets do not need the novelty of a floodlit match to sell. But the ECB worry that waiting until 2020 for another floodlit Test could be too long to wait and if the floodlit Ashes Test is a success this winter then there will be momentum for repeating it here in 2019. Also the pink Duke ball did not behave unexpectedly at Edgbaston and with England to play two day-night Tests this winter the players will become accustomed to the concept.

Birmingham City Council estimate the floodlit Test was worth £15m to the local economy because the later start time saw more hotel rooms sold than usual bringing more money into the West Midlands area.

“From a club perspective it was great and commercially we exceeded all our targets in terms of ticket sales, retail catering and merchandising even though it was finished in three days,” said Neil Snowball, the Warwickshire chief executive. “It was very good for the city as well. It was good for the profile of Edgbaston and from our point of view a terrific success.”

Becoming an annual host for floodlit Test like Adelaide in Australia is not on the agenda for Warwickshire who are instead lobbying for Edgbaston to host the first match of all high profile series instead playing on England’s strong record at the ground.