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Johnson slams day-night Ashes test

Australia's Mitchell Johnson smiles towards a member of the crowd as he fields near the boundary during the fifth day of the second cricket test match against New Zealand at the WACA ground in Perth, Western Australia, November 17, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray (Reuters)

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson has slammed the decision to play a day-night Ashes match next year, saying the pink ball test is a "totally different" game. England will play Australia in a test under the lights for the first time at the Adelaide Oval in the second match of the 2017-18 Ashes series, it was announced this week. Johnson, who retired ahead of the inaugural day-night test in Adelaide last year, thinks the Ashes series generates enough interest and ticket sales without any added novelty. "I'm not really happy about it. I just don't think it's test cricket," Johnson said. "It's a totally different game altogether. They change the wickets. "Adelaide Oval in test match cricket never has grass on it. But the two day-night test matches that have been played there, there's been lots of grass on it. "As a bowler, I should be happy about it. Because it definitely brings bowlers into it. "But to me, it's a change of a game. And I think it changes stats as well. So I just don't like it." Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland has been a driving force behind the day-night game and has told Australian cricket fans they can soon expect two home pink-ball tests every year. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)