New Balls Not Any Better

 

21/05

3 ball replacements during the third innings...

20/05

Anecdotally, if Notts have taken delivery of new Duke balls, then they are just as useless as the previous batch of balls. There has been 4 unscheduled changes of ball so far in less than two completed innings, in this Notts v Derbyshire match. 

17/05

News balls dispatched to counties

LIZZIE TALKING BALLS

Bowlers blame smaller Dukes seam for surge in County run scoring.

Elizabeth Ammon.
The Times.
Friday, 6 May 2022.
PTG 3876-19055.


A smaller seam on this year’s batch of ‘Dukes' balls has contributed to the glut of early season runs in the County Championship, according to several bowlers and coaches. The first four rounds of the championship have featured a large number of high scores compared with recent years. There have already been as many innings totals of more than 500 as in the entirety of the 2018 and 2021 seasons.


Players and coaches have said that the 'Dukes' balls appear to have a smaller and less pronounced seam, and in some cases are softening earlier than in previous years. Others have found that there is little movement through the air.


The 'Dukes' ball is used in all professional men’s red-ball cricket in England and can be a significant factor in home advantage for the Test team. Indeed, for the 2019 Ashes, England asked Dukes to make a batch of balls with a larger seam to encourage movement that would challenge the Australia batsmen’s techniques.


Each year’s batch of Dukes balls is slightly different because they are hand-stitched and made using four pieces of leather, as opposed to the two pieces stitched together on the SG and Kookaburra balls, used in India and Australia respectively. It is therefore expected that there will be some variations in how the ball behaves year on year.


There are other possible reasons for the increased scores in the county game this season — after a fairly dry period, pitches are flatter and less green, and there has been limited cloud cover, which affects the amount of swing on offer — but struggling bowlers have noted that even small changes to the ball can make a significant difference.


It is not, however, necessarily a negative thing. A common critique of the championship is that the bowler-friendly conditions have stunted the development of potential Test batsmen. Equally, it would be helpful for young bowlers to learn their trade with less assistance, given that they often struggle to take wickets on flatter pitches, particularly overseas, or with other brands of ball. The Kookaburra version has a much less pronounced seam, tends to soften earlier and offers less swing.

Someone else talking balls yesterday was Kevin Pietersen -  as though some extraordinary feat (Ben Stokes hitting 17 sixes in an innings), was in some way an indicator that English cricket needs to franchise first class cricket.