Cricket Australia's plan to stage two day-night Tests next season hit another hitch Friday when the players' association sought a limit of one. The initial schedule proposed the third Test between Australia and South Africa in November at Adelaide — the venue for the only previous pink-ball Test — and the series-opener against Pakistan in Brisbane in December be day-night matches. South African players and officials have so far resisted the idea, although Pakistan has committed to playing its day-night match. "The feedback we are receiving from our playing group is that there still remain concerns over day-night Tests," Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Alistair Nicholson said. "While there is acknowledgement that this format may grow the game, at this stage, the players would prefer to only play one day-night Test in 2016-17." Australia beat New Zealand in a low-scoring day-night Test in Adelaide last year and, while TV ratings and crowd numbers made it a financial success, the players struggled to come to terms with the pink ball designed specifically for the format. "Pink-ball Tests are a fundamentally different game to traditional red-ball Test matches," Nicholson said. "We continue to be concerned about the durability and visibility of the pink ball, both the changing light conditions and the specifically prepared pitches are altering the conditions that the players are used to at each venue." Cricket Australia bolstered its campaign to for the day-night Test against South Africa by publishing an interview with captain Steve Smith in which he backed the proposed fixture. Smith, however, said his team would be happy to play a day-nighter against South Africa at the famous South Australian venue, as well as the fixture already scheduled to be played under lights at the Gabba against Pakistan in December. "I'm surprised that he named me," Smith was quoted as saying from India on the Cricket Australia (CA) website. "The feedback we gave them was that Adelaide is the best place to play it, in our opinion. "We're playing one in Brisbane now, but Adelaide is the best place to play it and I think it could work there. "I don't know where they've got their ideas from," he added. "If they wanted to play one we'd be happy to."
