Cricket turns pink

The white ball used in one-day cricket could be replaced by a pink one if tests prove it is more durable. A fluorescent ball could be adopted for one-day county cricket by 2009, and then across the international game.

The red ball lasts much longer, so the pink ball will not be used for Tests and four-day county games.

"It's about the quality of the ball and the fact the white one doesn't last 50 overs," a spokesman for the game's lawmakers, the MCC, told BBC Sport. But there is also the visibility factor to consider - white balls can be notoriously difficult for fielders and batsmen to see in certain light conditions.

The tests will be carried out in the nets at Lord's this winter and also in women's cricket in Australia. In the summer of 2008, further trials will see the pink ball used in county second XI and university matches.

The MCC's head of cricket John Stephenson said: "Paint tends to flake off white balls. The challenge is to produce a ball which retains its colour. If the white ball is not working, let's look at another colour - and pink was a pretty good compromise. My aim would be to use the pink ball in Twenty20 cricket in 2009 and thereafter in one-day international cricket. But this will be dependent on trials and what the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] thinks."