New Zealand are anticipating a battle of tactics as they venture into cricket's new world in this week's first-ever day-night third Test against Australia, coach Mike Hesson said on Monday.
The cricket world is watching with interest as trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand face off with a revolutionary pink ball at Adelaide Oval from Friday.
Zaheer Abbas, the new president of the International Cricket Council, hailed the day-night Test concept as "thoroughly enlightened".
The pink ball's capacity to swing freely and create collapses at night in preparatory matches means the final session of play has become more problematic than the first two sessions.
It leaves rival skippers Steve Smith and Brendon McCullum with big decisions to make this week.
Smith indicated his thinking when captaining New South Wales in this season's day-night domestic Sheffield Shield round by declaring on day one to utilise the swing of paceman Mitchell Starc, who grabbed three wickets in the evening session with the aid of some noticable in-swingers.
Hesson said the clamour to bowl at night could be a key battle at Adelaide.
"There's definitely something to that (declaring to bowl at night)," he told reporters.
"If you think that's the best chance to take a few early wickets. There'll definitely be some tactical plays throughout the Test."
New Zealand suffered a collapse of four for 30 in their two-day practice tour match in Perth on Sunday after dinner against Western Australia.
The Blackcaps' bowlers had created havoc by swinging the second new ball in Saturday's night session with WA losing five for 21.
Swing-induced collapses have become a regular occurrence in day-night Sheffield Shield fixtures this season leading up to the Adelaide Test. "At night with the new ball it swings and probably more so than it does during the day," Hesson said.
"That's been very consistent over the past couple of years with the pink ball.
"Obviously, things can change pretty quickly at night. That was good for us to experience. We head to Adelaide knowing not everything but knowing enough."
Hesson added that the Adelaide Oval pitch would shape the Test, especially when it came to the colour of the ball.
"All the talk is there'll be grass on the wicket," he said.
"Over the five days it's certainly going to dry out so it (the ball) might hold its colour a lot more at the start of the Test than it will at the end.
"We'll have to see the wicket ... It's not a perfect science, is itIJ"
Taylor calls for four-day Test matches
Sydney, Nov 23 (AFP) Pink-ball day-night Test matches, which make their debut this week in Adelaide, should only be the beginning of a cricket revolution, former Australian captain Mark Taylor said today.
Taylor, a Cricket Australia board member, is advocating the introduction of four-day, 100-over Test matches and a clearly defined Test championship. He wants all Tests to begin on Thursdays, allowing them to build to a climax.
"As someone said to me years ago, why are we surprised when people go to one-day cricket and T20 cricket more than they do a Test match, when we put all the one-dayers and T20s on in school holidays and at night," he told the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
Taylor said he had discussed his ideas at an International Cricket Council level and they were now gathering some momentum with different options being brought forward.
"You've got to look at the game as a whole. Where is cricket goingIJ The younger generation generally want more instant gratification and I think over five days to keep them interested in the game is not so easy," he said.
"People are more about who is the best in the world at the moment. They like watching World Cup finals if you're always working towards who is the best Test team in the world, that can only help the game."
Australia face New Zealand in the first-ever day-night Test in Adelaide from Friday and Cricket Australia has reportedly already contacted the Pakistan Cricket Board about securing a similar game in Australia for the next southern summer.
The chief of the Federation of International Cricketers' Association, Tony Irish, warned against significant changes happening too quickly.
He said that while players should be given credit for allowing this week's Adelaide Test to go ahead, it should be seen as an experiment.
"This match needs to be seen strictly as an experiment. If there's one thing that everyone agrees on, it's that the pink ball in Test cricket is a big unknown," Irish told Fairfax Media.