Ed talks Balls

Daniel Brettig.

Cricinfo.

Saturday, 4 February 2017.

PTG 2039-10325.

Ed Cowan, the former Australia Test batsman, has declared the new ‘Dukes' ball being trialled in the Sheffield Shield this season should be seriously considered for use as the Test match ball of choice down under (PTG 2035-10308, 31 January 2017).  Having hit it for an innings of 212 for New South Wales (NSW) against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) over the past two days, Cowan paradoxically praised the ‘Dukes' - a version of which has been specially devised for use in Australian conditions - for offering more help to the bowlers. 

That much was seen later on day three of the match when Trent Copeland and Sean Abbott swung it prodigiously to help NSW put Victoria under immense pressure with one day of the match remaining. Cowan said the balls had stood up on a pair of diverse pitches at the MCG and also last week in a state second XI match he played at Geelong.  "I think the ‘Dukes' is a far superior cricket ball to the ‘Kookaburra' in terms of the quality of contest between bat and ball”, he said. "They certainly stay in shape, they're harder for longer, they consistently swing, there's a little bit there for the bowlers all day if you're good enough to bowl well, but you can get some runs if you're disciplined with the bat". 

"From Australian cricket's point of view I'd love Cricket Australia [CA] to look really hard at using ‘Dukes' balls in Test cricket in Australia because I think the quality of the ball is superior. I've been lucky enough to play a bit of cricket in England and use the ‘Dukes' a bit. I've always found you just have to be really disciplined on the front foot, particularly day one or two of a four-day fixture, you can't bully the ball off the front foot through the off side". 

"You've got to play the ball late, respect the ball when they pitch it up and really wait for the bowler to come to you. It doesn't change your plan too much at the top of the order but I certainly think those overs 50-80 with a ‘Kookaburra' ball, where a batsman can really dictate terms and hit bowlers off a good length, you can't get away with a ‘Dukes' and that keeps bowling sides in it for longer”.

Victorian stand-in captain Cameron White has wondered at the point of using the ‘Dukes' in Shield matches where most likely contenders for the 2019 Ashes are otherwise engaged, but Cowan noted the trial had offered a competitor to ‘Kookaburra' the opportunity to show its wares. The traditional manufacturers of Australian cricket balls have been heavily occupied with developing a pink ball for day-night Test cricket in recent times, and is believed to be eager for CA feedback on how the red version can be improved. 

"I know CA brought it in under the public guise of preparing for [the Ashes tour of] 2019 - I don't know whether politically they're trying to put some pressure on ‘Kookaburra’”, Cowan said. "But regardless of whether you're playing in Shield rounds and might go on an Ashes tour, I think they've actually fallen over a better cricket ball to use in Australian conditions".