County C'ship set for day-night cricket

The English County Championship will open with nine day-night matches next June in the hope of broadening the audience for the four-day game, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday.

The day-night matches will all start on Monday, June 26, and be played with pink balls.

The ECB hope that gaining more experience in these conditions will prove useful to England's players ahead of their first ever day-night test match against West Indies in August at Edgbaston.

The County Championship has only featured one previous day-night match -- a trial game between Kent and Glamorgan at Canterbury in 2011.