Lights for Sabina Park day-night Test need final approval

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Sabina Park's preparations to host its first day-night Test when Australia visit next week are being pushed to the last minute.

There had been initial delays to installing the new floodlights - originally they were due to be completed early this year, and then by May, but have only recently gone in - and during recent test events there was one area of the playing area, in front of the Kingston Cricket Club stand, that was found to not be sufficiently lit.

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) remains confident that the ground will be ready for the third Test on July 12, but the facilities will need final ICC sign-off when officials arrive next week. The upgrading of the scoreboard and replay screen, funded by the Indian government, has also hit delays after further work was found to be needed when the older structure was removed.

"I'm pretty sure about that [being ready]," JCA president Dr Donovan Bennett told the Jamaica Observer last week. "I'm a little bit uneasy because I would have hoped that everything would have been completed by now but when you're doing construction, as you go along there are a lot of unforeseen circumstances that you're challenged with which will push you back and that's exactly what has happened with the lights and the scoreboard.

"But we're on target, I'm confident that we'll be okay with both the lighting and the scoreboard for the 12th, when the games are scheduled, I'm sure we'll be okay."

Bennett added: "Certain areas of the field are way above the international requirements but there's one area that we need to work on to get it up…the English, who supplied the lights, they will be coming in on the seventh [Monday] with a laser beam to do the final fine-tuning."

ESPNcricinfo understands that Cricket West Indies are confident the match will be able to take place as a day-night Test. The venue is also due to host the first two matches of the T20I series under lights.

The Caribbean has only hosted one previous day-night Test, when Sri Lanka played in Barbados in 2018. Australia have won 12 of their 13 day-night Tests, the only defeat being against West Indies at the Gabba last year, and have played comfortably the most given that every home summer features a pink-ball game.

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