Australian star batter and stand-in captain Steve Smith turned heads during the second Ashes Test at The Gabba by wearing black anti-glare eye strips, a tactic he says helps him track the pink ball more clearly under lights. The method, once made famous in cricket by West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is common in American football but rarely seen in Test cricket.
Smith has long admitted difficulties picking up the pink ball in day-night conditions, so he decided to bring the strategy into match play for the Ashes 2025–26.
“Playing against the pink ball… I quite struggle picking it up with the glare off the lights, and even during the day,” Smith said before the match. “I’ve been using them in the nets and feel they’ve made a large difference. I’ll be rocking them this game.”
With 13 pink-ball Tests among his 120 career matches, Smith is one of the world’s most experienced players in the format, yet even he acknowledges that the ball behaves unpredictably.
“The pink ball reacts differently to a red one. It can change quickly and start moving randomly. When that happens, you’ve got to adjust fast and stay one step ahead,” he explained.
As the day-night format continues to evolve, players are experimenting with new ways to adapt. Smith’s eye-black strips have now put a fresh spotlight on the unique challenges of pink-ball cricket and on the creative techniques players are adopting to handle them.
