InMobi

Pink ball here to stay: Harris

Ex-Test speedster urges players to adapt to historic change

Former Australian Test quick Ryan Harris says New Zealand's pink ball experience won't provide "a massive advantage", and has urged players to accept the historic change ahead of its use in the upcoming Commonwealth Bank Third Test in Adelaide.

Harris admitted the pink ball didn't hold up well on trial in the Black Caps' one-day tour match romp over Prime Minister's XI last week, albeit on an abrasive Canberra pitch.

Criticism of the ball's deterioration at Manuka Oval prompted calls for the inaugural day-night Test against the Black Caps in Adelaide to revert back to a regular day fixture and a red Kookaburra.

But Harris said it was time players accepted the radical change.

"It's here to stay," he said of the pink ball.

"It's new, it's like when Twenty20 came in – no one knew how it was going to go. Players had to adapt to it and that's what they will have to do here."

Quick Single: Mixed reviews for pink ball

Harris admitted it was tough to gauge the pink ball at Canberra, where he was PM's XI assistant coach.

This week's Sheffield Shield clash between South Australia and NSW in Adelaide is considered a third Test dress rehearsal.

Harris said it would be a challenge for Australia to control the pink ball against a Black Caps side more familiar with it, including world-class seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

Boult (3-27) and Southee (1-28) ripped through the PM's XI top order last Friday, removing Test hopefuls Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns to reduce the hosts to 3-13 in New Zealand's 102-run win.

However, Harris did not believe the pink ball would prove the difference in November's third Test.

"The results in Canberra weren't great, but that wicket was very abrasive – it wasn't the wicket you would get at Adelaide," Harris said of the pink ball.

"It will be a challenge. The Kiwi guys have done a lot of experimenting with it in New Zealand and a couple of games here – our guys have had bits and pieces.

"But it's not a massive advantage.

"They will both encounter problems with it or ways that they use it; it might not swing as long or might not reverse, that sort of stuff."