Neita unsure about day-night Test appeal

Following the announcement that the Caribbean will host its first day-night Test match in the upcoming test series against Sri Lanka starting May, second vice-president of the Jamaica Cricket Board, Mark Neita, said it will take more than convenient timing to pull out spectators.

The day-night test will take place in the third and final test match of the series at Kensington Oval in Barbados between June 23 and 27.

“I hope that they will turn out. It is something that is new. It is the first time that it is going to be done in the Caribbean, with the whole novelty, and people being able to say 'I was there when the first day-night test match was played,'" Neita said. Outside of that, the most important attraction is to have a team that wins. I think as long as the Windies team is not winning, we will struggle, particularly in test cricket, to have the kind of audience that we used to have,” he continued. “I think it’s gonna be good for the game, but I think it’s gonna be incumbent on our cricketers to step up their performances, to be competitive with any test teams which come to any test arena in the region.”
Neita said that he is hoping that Sabina Park will host the next day-night test in the region. “I think it would be a great opportunity for us. I think it is something that we would embrace and make as profitable as possible,” Neita said.
The reduction in the number of spectators at test cricket matches across the world is more pronounced in the Caribbean.