Sight screen in cricket: Why has play halted in SA vs BAN 1st Test at Kingsmead Durban?

Sight screen in cricket: An unusual and frustrating delay has been witnessed to halt the start of a Test match in Durban today.

During the first day of the first Test of the ongoing Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa in Durban, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque has won the toss and chose to field.

“We will bowl first. Bit of grass and bit of moisture. We wanted to take advantage of it. Tamim [Iqbal] has some stomach problems. It is a great opportunity for the young guys,” Haque told SuperSport at the toss.

Asked to bat first on a grassy pitch, South Africa captain Dean Elgar wasn’t “displeased” by the prospect of being asked to put runs on board today. Leading a side bereft of first-choice players, Elgar laid emphasis on looking at the “positive side of things”.

“Test cricket, I prefer to put runs on the board. I am not too displeased by batting first. I think in South Africa, we are used to see grass. Hopefully it doesn’t backfire. We have seam bowlers who can use these conditions. We just continue to crack on. I see positive side of things,” Elgar told SuperSport at the toss.

Sight screen in cricket

Just when Bangladeshi fielders and South Africa opening batters in Elgar and Samuel Erwee were about to begin play on Day 1, an unprecedented issue with the sightscreen ended up halting play for as many as 30 minutes.

For the unversed, a sightscreen (movable screen behind the bowler) in cricket is used to aid batters with respect to spotting the ball clearly. While a white sightscreen is used in red-ball matches, a black sightscreen is used in white-ball matches to make viewing easier for the batters.

A rare “sightscreen malfunction” at the Kingsmead resulted in a delay as players ended up returning to their respective dressing rooms. Umpires don’t permit players to play with any sort of issue with the sightscreen as it can both dismiss and injure batters especially while facing fast bowlers.