Curtain-raiser set for Abu Dhabi
Pakistan fans throng for a day/night one-day international in Abu Dhabi, which will see pink balls used in first-class cricket for the first time when MCC and Durham convene on March 29
The MCC versus Champion County match will take place in Abu Dhabi in 2010 and will be played under floodlights with pink cricket balls, the MCC has confirmed.
The decision to move the traditional season-opening fixture from Lord’s was ratified this week at an MCC committee meeting.
It ensures that MCC and LV= County Champions Durham will contest the first day-night, four-day match using pink balls.
The fixture will run from Monday March 29 to Thursday April 1 at the Sheikh Zayed International Stadium, where Pakistan and New Zealand recently concluded a series of one-day internationals. Abu Dhabi has regularly played host to Pakistan in recent years.
The ground is the home of Abu Dhabi CC, who last month signed an agreement with MCC to become associate club partners.
MCC’s head of cricket John Stephenson has been at the forefront of the club's testing of pink balls in recent years.
He said: “We are delighted to confirm the MCC-Champion County match will take place in Abu Dhabi, and greatly appreciate Durham’s enthusiasm and co-operation.
“We’ve been asking cricket authorities around the world to help us trial the pink ball under floodlights.
Abu Dhabi is a far cry from Lord's, where the same teams endured a rain-hit draw to open the 2009 domestic season
“If this match is a success it could help to reinvigorate Test cricket.
"We have an opportunity to play our part for the good of the game and we’re determined to grasp it.”
The same two teams endured a rain-hit draw at Lord's to open the 2009 domestic season, so Abu Dhabi should at least provide more time in the middle.
Durham head coach Geoff Cook said: “Although it is a disappointment not to have the traditional season opener at Lord’s, we fully understand and support the reasons for that and are therefore honoured to have the opportunity to take part in this innovative and historic match.
“As the game of cricket generally is moving forward, the possibility of playing with pink cricket balls for the first time in a four-day match, under floodlights, is an experience that the players will be really looking forward to.”
MCC has declared its intention to select a competitive team to face the double county champions, with the best county, MCC university and United Arab Emirates cricketers in line for selection.
Your comments
The so called 'tradition' of MCC v Champion county appears to only go back to 1970 when MCC played Glamorgan at Lords,the county having been champions in 1969,and even then there was a break between 1992 and 2004.
Before 1970 the Champion County played The Rest of England at the Oval at the end of the season in question.It was only played 8 times between the end of ww2 and 1961.
Tradition is variously- a specific practice of long standing,
a part of culture that is passed from person to person or generation to generation,
pertaining to time-honored orthodox doctrines,
a belief, principle or way of acting which people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time, or all of these beliefs, etc. in a particular society or group .
Tradition
The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language:Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next, often orally.
This match clearly does not fall into the definition of traditional.
Stephen RANSOME on 16/12/09