板球昼夜赛粉色球的可视性问题

The pink ball was introduced for day-night matches over a decade ago, and in June this year the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved a trial of pink balls in Tests expected to be affected by bad light—subject to prior agreement from both teams.

Now, a study by academics from Australia, the U.K. and the Netherlands has found that players with color vision deficiency (CVD) struggle to see the pink ball around dusk or against the crowd and grass.

Previous research shows about 9% of male Australian grade-level cricketers have CVD, including the common conditions deuteranomaly—the most common form of red-green color vision deficiency, affecting how greens, reds, yellows and related shades are distinguished—and protanomaly—a form of red-green color blindness.

Dr. Luke Wilkins, a specialist in visual, perceptual and cognitive skills in sports from the Centre for Sport and Human Performance Research at La Trobe University in Australia, said the study sought to understand how CVD interacts with ball color and match conditions.

"Cricket balls are hard and travel very fast, so anything that makes them harder to see warrants attention," he said. "We also need to consider whether the choice of ball places some players at a greater disadvantage than others.

"Our study did not measure injuries or on-field performance, but it identifies situations where visibility could be problematic and where further investigation is needed."

The researchers measured the spectral reflectance of new and old red and pink balls in the laboratory, as well as the backgrounds and illuminance of a day-night match at Lord's Cricket Ground in London during the day, dusk and night.

They calculated the luminance contrast of the ball relative to the background for each combination of ball, time of day and background surface for a typical observer and for observers with CVD.

The study is published in the journal Sports Medicine.

"Our computer modeling suggests that different types of CVD create different challenges for seeing a cricket ball. These challenges depend on the ball's color and condition, the background and the time of day," Wilkins said.

"For example, players with deuteranomaly (green color deficiency) may struggle to see a pink ball against the pitch, potentially making batting more difficult. Players with protanomaly (red color deficiency) may have more difficulty seeing it against the crowd or grass, which could affect fielding."

They also found there are a few scenarios in which CVD could be beneficial, depending on the combination of ball color, ball age, background surface and time of day.

"There is no single ball that provides the best visibility for everyone in every situation. However, on balance, our findings suggest that the red ball provides more consistent and equitable visibility across players and conditions," Wilkins said.

The findings reflect the experience of former Australian Test opener Chris Rogers, who has red-green color deficiency.

In one of the first matches played with a pink ball more than a decade ago, during a friendly match between English county teams in Abu Dhabi, Rogers was unable to see the pink ball with green stitching against the black sight screen and the purple seats at the ground.

"I was facing an offspinner and I couldn't pick the ball up in the sight screen," he said. "For me it looked like dark on dark."

While the screen was eventually changed to white and the ball seams to black to assist with visibility, Rogers retired soon after. However, the pink ball was still an issue when he was providing commentary on day-night matches, where he struggled to follow the line of the ball through a dark shadow.

Rogers said even the red ball could be problematic, especially when he was fielding and the ball was in the air against the crowd or dark-colored seats. To see the ball better, Rogers began wearing sunglasses with red and yellow lenses designed to help amplify color contrast, which he said made the colors "pop."

Wilkins said the findings added to a growing body of research showing that while the red ball does pose problems of its own, from a visibility perspective it was likely to be superior across more scenarios and, perhaps more importantly, a more equitable solution across different players.

"Our findings give the ICC reason to review when and how the pink ball is used, particularly before expanding its use to address poor light," he said.

More information

Peter M. Allen et al, Not So Pretty in Pink: Computational Modelling of Cricket Ball Visibility with Colour Vision Deficiency, Sports Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s40279-026-02518-0

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Citation: Cricket's day-night pink ball not always so pretty (2026, October 7) retrieved 17 October 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-10-cricket-day-night-pink-ball.html

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