Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has urged players to keep open minds to the prospect of day-night Ashes Tests, despite concerns from captains Steve Smith and Alastair Cook.
The day after confirming a second day-night Test for 2016-17 against South Africa, Sutherland reiterated his belief there's a "natural progression" towards the introduction of the pink ball in the 2017/18 series against England.
Sutherland has predicted between zero and two Ashes Tests to be played under lights, but Smith and Cook have called for the series to remain a red-ball contest, arguing that the sport's iconic showpiece series needs no extra hype.
Cook also joined the chorus of reservations about the quality and behaviour of the pink ball.
But CA is delighted with the pink ball, having been buoyed by the TV ratings and crowds who watched last year's inaugural day-night Test in Adelaide.
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"I think there's a natural progression for us to get to a stage where Ashes Test matches are played as day-night games," Sutherland said in Melbourne on Thursday.
"The players are clearly an important stakeholder and I respect the views of Steven and Alistair in saying that.
"The Ashes is a great contest, and (it) will no doubt attract huge audiences both at the ground and on television.
"But I think the facts of the matter are that by playing a day-night Test match you're actually going to get bigger audiences at the game and on television.
"It even time-shifts games into a more appealing time of day in the UK; that's another factor we need to consider.
"So from that perspective we all need to stay very open-minded to this, continue to progress and build everyone's confidence in it."
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association insists money was not offered to talk the initially resistant Proteas around to agreeing to November's day-night Test.
Cricket Australia put a prize pool of $1 million on the line for last year's three-Test series against New Zealand as an incentive for the inaugural day-night fixture, and it was expected they might have to do likewise to get South Africa across the line.
But the player union's boss Tony Irish said it was the increase in pink-ball Tests being played around the globe that encouraged South Africa to dip their toes in the water.
"There hasn't been money offered by Cricket Australia and there was never money asked for by our players in that regard," Irish told Sky Sports Radio's Big Sports Breakfast.
