A game between an MCC side and an Abu Dhabi select XI at the Zayed Stadium in the capital yesterday marked the first use under floodlights of a pink ball. The new coloured ball had been used on Saturday in the sunshine at the Emirates Palace Hotel's East Lawn Cricket Pitch where the MCC played an Emirates Palace Gentleman's XI, but last night saw the first use of it under lights for which it was designed. The club, based at Lord's, are conducting trials of the ball during a seven-match tour of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat. Will Gidman, the Durham all-rounder, top scored with 63 as MCC side struggled to 219 all out. The four-day English county season curtain-raiser match between the MCC and Durham, which has been switched from Lord's to Abu Dhabi, will also trial the pink ball. The MCC signed a three-year deal with the Abu Dhabi Cricket Association to become associate partners in December. * The National
