St John's, Antigua - The stage is set for the first ever four-day first-class day/night match, featuring a pink ball. Dr Ernest Hilaire, Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), attended the match launch in Antigua where the pink balls were on display, and during his feature address he urged all the fans on the island to come out and be part of history on Friday.

He also gave details on the use of the pink ball and the WICB’s framework to re-engineer and revitalise the game at the regional level. As part of the new approach for 2010, the WICB has introduced day/night matches to the WICB Four-day First-class Tournament. The first match will start on Friday at 1 pm (12 noon Jamaica Time) with Trinidad and Tobago facing Guyana at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

“This will be no ordinary match. This will be an historic occasion and we want the people of Antigua to come out and support the teams and also to support West Indies cricket. It will be the first time ever, anywhere in the world, a first-class cricket match will be played using the pink ball, under lights,” Dr Hilaire said.

He added that, as part of the overall project, the WICB will be collecting data from players, officials, fans and other stakeholders. He also noted that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has stated its intention to stage day/night Test matches in the coming years, and early exposure could prove to be a distinct advantage for West Indian players.

As background to the use of the pink ball, Dr Hilaire outlined: “The MCC also conducted trials with coloured balls – yellow, orange and pink – including visual tests and compared the results with the white ball. In July 2009, the MCC’s World Cricket Committee endorsed the pink ball and recommended the trials continue at the first-class level with the intention to introduce day/night Test cricket using the pink ball. In turn the ICC in October 2009 considered a report from the MCC and endorsed the trials of the pink balls at first-class level among members. The ICC expects that data will be collected and shared with the ICC members.

"While there is no definitive decision on the use of a coloured ball, the path towards deciding on an appropriate ball for day/night cricket is presently centred on the use of a pink ball. In that context, the WICB is following the recommendations provided by the MCC and the ICC on the use of the pink ball.”

The other day/night matches will be: Barbados vs Windward Islands at Kensington Oval (January 29 to February 1); Combined Campuses and Colleges vs Jamaica at Guyana National Stadium (February 12-15) and Combined Campuses vs Leeward Islands at Beausejour, St Lucia (February 26 to March 1). These matches will start at 1 pm.