CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CMC) — Night-time Tests may be just around the corner if a leading English official has his way.

John Stephenson, head of cricket at the Marylebone Cricket Club, said selective instances of matches under lights with the possible use of a pink ball could be as little as a year away.

The former England batsman said there were a number of places around the world that the concept could make a difference to attendances without disrupting the character of the game itself.

“I think some parts of New Zealand at the right time of the year; we were exploring New Zealand vs Zimbabwe in Hamilton at the end of January,” he said.

“That would have been a good one for a day/night Test. You’d have got a lot of the local community out at night and conditions might have been sublime, I’m told — not too much dew, warm, good floodlights.”

He said: “We also know that Abu Dhabi has wonderful conditions for day/night cricket at certain times of the year.

“The West Indies could also be a great place for it, re-invigorating attendances there. India and Pakistan are also set up for it in places, although there’s a dew factor to contemplate.”

Stephenson was speaking following a two-day meeting of the MCC World Cricket Committee in the city.

The committee, an independent voice in world cricket, gathers twice annually, and its debates and recommendations are made in the interests of the game and its players.

It includes former Test umpires Steve Bucknor and fellow Jamaican and former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh.

“But we’re not quite there yet,” he said. “The Hamilton game only ever reached ‘preliminary discussion’ level; I talked about it with the New Zealand authorities. They feel they’re not quite ready yet.

“Maybe in two years, or even 12 months… We don’t quite know the time scale. What I don’t want to see is Test cricket withering. We have to do everything we can to revitalise it without compromising traditional values.”

Stephenson also said he supported the idea of making more room in the calendar for Tests and was disappointed that icon series like England against West Indies have been devalued.

“It’s complex this (English) summer,” he said. “West Indies are also coming over (ahead of South Africa) so we can only fit so many Tests into the schedule.

“You’ve got a point that two Tests against West Indies and four against South Africa might have been a better solution for the public based on current (balance of power), but you’ve got to consider the sensitivities of the West Indies, the other tourists coming over.”

He concluded: “I don’t think two-Test series between anyone are a satisfactory state of affairs, to be honest. England against West Indies also used to be a five-Test series, so three has probably got to be a minimum there.”