One-dayers have been played under floodlights since the 1970s

Cricket Australia (CA) boss James Sutherland said the organisation will be looking to introduce the format within the next two years.

"We are tossing it around and working out the fundamentals," he said.

"We don't see any reason why we can't be at least trialling some day-night Test cricket, not necessarily all of them, before the end of the decade."

CA says the sport could attract a four-fold increase in television ratings within the next decade if the plans were given the go-ahead.

606: DEBATE Should Test cricket be played under floodlights?

The one-day and Twenty20 formats of the game have benefited from day-night matches and are enjoying enormous support.

The Twenty20 match between Australia and New Zealand in Perth was sold out and a big hit with television audiences.

"It makes sense to me that the game becomes more appealing by virtue of it being played at an hour where more people can come and watch and more people can watch it on TV," added Sutherland.

"That's got to be good for cricket and that's got to be good for other member countries.

"Perhaps we can do some of that analysis just by looking at our TV ratings for Test cricket versus the one-day matches and the second half of one-day matches, which are in the evening.

"My anecdotal suggestions there would be audiences something like four times what they currently are for Test cricket."

I wouldn't like to be changing the way Test cricket is looked at and played too much Australia captain Ricky Ponting

Sutherland said it was inevitable that Test cricket needed to change with the times, although, he stressed it was "incredibly important" to preserve the longer form's traditions.

It is believed CA officials are considering scheduling games from 1400 to 2100 or 1500 to 2200 rather than the traditional 1100 to 1800.

One of the biggest obstacles could be finding a ball which can be seen at night after being used all day.

Red balls are not visible against a darkened sky while white balls, currently used for one-day matches, do not retain their colour for long.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he was opposed to the idea, claiming playing under floodlights would be a "nightmare for batsmen".

"I am a bit of a traditionalist," he told The Australian. "I wouldn't like to be changing the way Test cricket is looked at and played too much.

"We had day-night first-class games a while ago, although I didn't play in them.

"They played a lot in Perth, they played a lot in Brisbane, and by all accounts they were a nightmare for all the batsmen."