Sat Dec 07 18:32:49 UTC 2024: ## Adelaide Oval Lights Fail Twice During India-Australia Test Match
**Adelaide, Australia** – The first day of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match between India and Australia was disrupted twice by a rare failure of the Adelaide Oval’s new LED lighting system. The incidents, which occurred during the 18th over of Australia’s innings, caused a 25-second and an 86-second delay to play, sparking criticism of the system installed in 2023.
The cause, according to The Age, was accidental activation of the wrong controls by ground staff attempting to turn on the lights for the Australian team’s nets practice session. A request for the lights above the nets in the Western Stand was misinterpreted by the ground control room, causing a shutdown of four of the stadium’s light towers. A second outage occurred when staff again attempted to turn on the nets’ lights, inadvertently triggering the system failure a second time.
The outages left the 50,186 spectators bewildered and prompted immediate reactions. Players from both sides, including Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Australian batsmen Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweyn, were forced to wait. South Australian Labor MP Tom Koutsantonis clarified on social media that the outages were not related to grid power supply issues. Cricket Australia faced online ridicule following the events.
The incidents highlight a significant technical malfunction of the newly installed system at a major international sporting venue. The investigation into the cause has focused on human error in operating the complex lighting system.
First Piper 