Dinner break time in Test cricket: How long are dinner and tea breaks in day-night Tests played with pink balls?

Dinner break time in Test cricket: A regular uninterrupted day of Test cricket encompasses of a couple of breaks.

The 17th pink-ball Test match in the history of cricket is currently being played between Australia and England in Adelaide. In what is the eighth such Test match being played in Australia, it is the sixth at the Adelaide Oval.

Playing their ninth day-night Test match, Australia should be able to maintain their unbeaten streak as they lead by 282 runs with nine wickets in hands at Stumps on Day 3. While an Australian victory will continue their winning spree, an English loss will add to their recent dismal Test record down under.

Dinner break time in Test cricket

A normal uninterrupted day of Test match cricket follows the norm of three sessions separated by two breaks in between. Because playing for seven hours on the trot can be exhausting, rules have rightly been made around players playing for two hours and then stopping for a break.

Day-night Tests are no different for they also follow the same aforementioned pattern. Since pink-ball Test matches begin in the afternoon, a solitary difference is that players break for dinner and not lunch after the first session. The second interval is called as the tea break in both red-ball and pink-ball Tests.

Below is the time table of how a normal day-night Test match day in Australia looks like considering if it begins at 02:30 PM (can vary from venue to venue).

Start time – 02:30 PM.

First session (Afternoon session) – 02:30 PM to 04:30 PM.

Dinner break – 04:30 PM to 05:10 PM.

Second session (Evening session) – 05:10 PM to 07: 10 PM.

Tea break – 07: 10 PM – 07:30 PM.

Third session (Night session) – 07:30 PM – 09:30 PM.

Extra time (mandatory if fielding team hasn’t completed 90 overs per day) – 09:30 PM – 10:00 PM.

How long are dinner and tea breaks in day-night Tests?

As is the case in day Tests, dinner/lunch and tea breaks last for 40 and 20 minutes respectively. Readers must note that there have been cases when a tea break is taken before a dinner break. The same was observed during the India-England day-night Test match in Ahmedabad earlier this year.

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Below is the time table of how a normal day/night Test match day in India looks like considering if it begins at 02:30 PM.

Start time – 02:30 PM.

First session (Afternoon session) – 02:30 PM to 04:30 PM.

Tea break – 04:30 PM to 04:50 PM.

Second session (Evening session) – 04:50 PM to 06: 50 PM.

Dinner break – 06: 50 PM – 07:30 PM.

Third session (Night session) – 07:30 PM – 09:30 PM.

Extra time (mandatory if fielding team hasn’t completed 90 overs per day) – 09:30 PM – 10:00 PM.