By Peter Argent
Adelaide Oval is one of the great venues of world sport.
Its reputation for its beauty has it matched up alongside Lords in England and Newlands Stadium in Capetown, South Africa.
Hosting this years’ World Cup T20 semi-final, AFL finals at night and international 50-over contests is perfect for the stadium that has a brilliant mix of modern technology and historic artefacts including a wonderful heritage scoreboard.
The view from the members’ area across to the scoreboard and the Morton bay fig trees, with the spires of the St. Peters Cathedral in the background is iconic.
But as far as many people are concerned, the Adelaide Oval has done the heavy lifting with Day-Night test cricket and it is now time to return the longest and truest form of the game to the 11am-6pm timeslot.
The first Day-Night test took place at the Adelaide Oval, starting on November 27, 2015.
Interestingly the first one-day match under lights was on the same day, 36 years earlier, a clash between Australia and the West Indies at the Sydney Cricket Ground back in 1979, which the hosts won by five wickets.
The second test of the 2021-22 series against the West Indies will also be under lights at Adelaide Oval starting on December 8 – the twentieth Day-Night test match in cricket history across the world.
It will be the seventh time Adelaide has hosted a Day-Night test! … And the Aussies have won the previous six.
Actually Australian have played in 10 of the 19 completed Men’s Day-Night tests, having won each of them.
The short Day-Night tests are costing the venue patrons and the Adelaide Business Community, tourism dollars.
Melbourne resident from Elwood, and passionate Test cricket lover, Andre Garnaut, had been travelling to Adelaide for 20 years, watching the Adelaide Oval test as an annual part of his year’s holiday planning.
“I first started coming over in the late 1990s and clocked up 20 consecutive years watching the Adelaide Oval tests,” Garnaut told the Barrier Truth.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have seen centuries by Brian Lara, Viral Kohli and Rahul Dravid, along with great innings from Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Davie Warner amongst many great performances at the venue.
“This included the first couple of the Day-Night test, but across the past couple of summers, because the night session would finish often as late as 10pm, we have stayed in Melbourne.
“There was a period where up to 20 of us would come across, enjoy the test and the great restaurants and night spots in the city.
“The decision [not to come across] was made because the night sessions just went too late.
“We would be keen to return if the Adelaide Test would start at 11am again.
“There has been plenty of feedback from other people we have met over the years travelling to Adelaide that the numbers have diminished because of the continuance of a Day-Night test in the programming.
“It would also affect many people from rural South Australia as well.”
Garnaut has watched Test cricket in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England and India, following his passion for the sport.
Test cricket at Adelaide Oval started back in 1884, against the Old Enemy, England.
The Adelaide Oval test had a strong reputation as a “peoples’ test” with many reacquainting with friends annually at the event.
