Difficult at dusk? Illuminating the debate on cricket ball visibility.

Autor: Maule JJ; School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK. Electronic address: J.Maule@sussex.ac.uk., Maguire R; Vision and Hearing Sciences Research Centre, Anglia Ruskin University, UK., Timmis MA; Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, UK., Runswick OR; Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK., Wilkins L; Sport, Performance, and Nutrition (SPAN) Research Group, La Trobe University, Australia., Mann DL; Department of Human Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Institute of Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands., Dain SJ; School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia., Bosten JM; School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK., Allen PM; Vision and Hearing Sciences Research Centre, Anglia Ruskin University, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of science and medicine in sport [J Sci Med Sport] 2024 Jun; Vol. 27 (6), pp. 408-414. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 20.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2024.02.004
Abstrakt: Objectives: Investigate the visibility of new and old red, white and pink cricket balls under lighting and background conditions experienced during a day-night cricket match.
Design: We modelled the luminance contrast signals available for a typical observer for a ball against backgrounds in a professional cricket ground, at different times of day.
Methods: Spectral reflectance (light reflected as a function of wavelength) was derived from laboratory measurements of new and old red, white and pink balls. We also gathered spectral measurements from backgrounds (pitch, grass, sightscreens, crowd, sky) and spectral illuminance during a day-night match (natural afternoon light, through dusk to night under floodlights) from Lord's Cricket Ground (London, UK). The luminance contrast of the ball relative to the background was calculated for each combination of ball, time of day, and background surface.
Results: Old red and old pink balls may offer little or no contrast against the grass, pitch and crowd. New pink balls can also be of low contrast against the crowd at dusk, as can pink and white balls (of any age) against the sky at dusk.
Conclusions: Reports of difficulties with visibility of the pink ball are supported by our data. However, our modelling also shows that difficulties with visibility may also be expected under certain circumstances for red and white balls. The variable conditions in a cricket ground and the changing colour of an ageing ball make maintaining good visibility of the ball a challenge when playing day-night matches.
Competing Interests: Declaration of interest statement Although the research concerns the visibility of different colours of Dukes cricket balls (British Cricket Balls Ltd.), no author has any financial or other interest in these products or any rival products. We have no other associations with any organisations which could constitute a conflict of interests.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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