Kookaburra balls to be used in domestic cricket

[Markhor]

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/503226-kookaburra-balls-to-be-used-in-domestic-cricket

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to use Kookaburra balls in domestic cricket.

A PCB official told ‘The News’ that the Australian Kookaburra balls will be used for all domestic cricket matches to be staged under the board. “Be it first class, back-up, Under-19 or women’s cricket, it has been decided to use Kookaburra balls from now on,” the PCB spokesman said.

It will not be for the first time that Kookaburra balls are to be used in domestic cricket. The imported balls were first used from 2000-2007. Then the Ijaz Butt-led administration decided to use locally manufactured balls. Grays and Duke balls have been regularly used since then.

“We have some heavy international commitments ahead of us. The T20 World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Under-19 World Cup and a host of other international commitments are to be held with the Kookaburra balls. So the appropriate course of action should be to start playing with these cricket balls at all levels in domestic tournaments,” he said.

It was agreed upon in a series of meetings that domestic cricket requires improvement in fielding, application of technique and other areas.

“It has also been decided that during the national camps the same brand of cricket balls will be used.”

Pakistan might also host Sri Lanka for a two-Test series starting from October 1. The Sri Lankan security delegation is due in Pakistan in August after which the venues for the series will be finalised. “Even for the home series, Kookaburra balls will be used.”

The general impression about the Kookaburra balls is that it starts off very well, offering assistance to quality players — both bowlers and batsmen. However, when it gets soft, dislodging batsmen becomes difficult.

I personally prefer the Dukes but given we have a tour of Australia coming up it makes sense to use the Kookaburra in domestic cricket.

 

[Titan24]

Good decision and much needed. Kookubura is used almost everywhere including the ICC tournaments except maybe in Eng or India in tests.

So now players will have to perform against the ball which they are gonna face at international level. This will naturally increase the quality of domestics.

 

[Barragan]

The ball they are going to use has to be the same one they use for home matches in the UAE, otherwise it would be useless.

 

[nextover666666]

Good decision and much needed. Kookubura is used almost everywhere including the ICC tournaments except maybe in Eng or India in tests.

So now players will have to perform against the ball which they are gonna face at international level. This will naturally increase the quality of domestics.

Exactly should have been done a long time ago but good decision

 

[Mueez]

Excellent decision.

Need to cut out the domestic McGrath bowlers bowling with Dukes.

I hope the pitches also improve in domestic.

We are heading towards the right direction.

 

[Hasan123]

All these ball changes are useless if the pitches don’t change. Why in all this time that Wasim Khan has been in charge have we seen no action on changing pitches?

 

[Boi]

All these ball changes are useless if the pitches don’t change. Why in all this time that Wasim Khan has been in charge have we seen no action on changing pitches?

He’s only been in charge since February. There hasn’t been any FC cricket since then. Improving pitches is on the agenda so let’s see how things pan out in the coming season.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Good decision. QeA trophy matches were turning out to be farces. With unknown 120 kph medium pacers running riot and teams folding within 2 days. The pitches were horrible and overtly seam-friendly (helped even more by the Dukes ball), batsmen's techniques were not developing and spinners had become virtually irrelevant.

Hopefully this decision will help in bringing some balance to first-class cricket but quality of pitches needs to radically change aswell.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Good decision and much needed. Kookubura is used almost everywhere including the ICC tournaments except maybe in Eng or India in tests.

So now players will have to perform against the ball which they are gonna face at international level. This will naturally increase the quality of domestics.

I think India too does it for as an act of defiance because the SG ball is known to be terrible and gets scuffed up and loses shape easily

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

So the whimsical bunch have decided to change the ball again. Let's see how many seasons they survive.

 

[Suleiman]

This news and some others have finally shown we're taking small steps towards progress.

I hope it's not just a flash in the pan as has been few times in the last 20 years.

 

[Asad T]

Listening to the T20 national commentary was interesting. As much as I don't like Salman Butt, he made a good point about Kookaburra balls.

He said they are unafforable. They can cost up to USD 150 per ball, and so many club's just can't afford to provide new balls during training.

As a consequence, new ball bowlers don't have much experience using them, and neither do opening batsmen; this affects the quality of plays that emerge from our domestic setup. Also, when you practice with old balls, bats tend to break faster, so the quality of the bats is also poor.

He also said, that when he used to play domestic, he had to give equipment to his teammates and even to opposing players because they could not afford them.

 

[Major]

Listening to the T20 national commentary was interesting. As much as I don't like Salman Butt, he made a good point about Kookaburra balls.

He said they are unafforable. They can cost up to USD 150 per ball, and so many club's just can't afford to provide new balls during training.

As a consequence, new ball bowlers don't have much experience using them, and neither do opening batsmen; this affects the quality of plays that emerge from our domestic setup. Also, when you practice with old balls, bats tend to break faster, so the quality of the bats is also poor.

He also said, that when he used to play domestic, he had to give equipment to his teammates and even to opposing players because they could not afford them.

thats poor logic by salman butt.

If these players get into Pakistan team, they would have to play with Kookaburra, what than?

The ball needs to be used by PCB domestic teams if not clubs

 

[Asad T]

thats poor logic by salman butt.

If these players get into Pakistan team, they would have to play with Kookaburra, what than?

The ball needs to be used by PCB domestic teams if not clubs

To be fair to Salman, he never argued for Kookaburra not to be used; he was just making an overservation. He said that even domestic clubs are stingy about using new balls during practice because there isn't so much money in these clubs.

He said that domestic matches need more TV coverage so players can get sponsors for kits more easily.

 

[zarak]

why cant we make a local ball that mimicks the kookaburra or play our home tests with a local ball.

 

[Bewal Express]

Listening to the T20 national commentary was interesting. As much as I don't like Salman Butt, he made a good point about Kookaburra balls.

He said they are unafforable. They can cost up to USD 150 per ball, and so many club's just can't afford to provide new balls during training.

As a consequence, new ball bowlers don't have much experience using them, and neither do opening batsmen; this affects the quality of plays that emerge from our domestic setup. Also, when you practice with old balls, bats tend to break faster, so the quality of the bats is also poor.

He also said, that when he used to play domestic, he had to give equipment to his teammates and even to opposing players because they could not afford them.

But we can afford to pay Wahab 3 crore a year to pick a team from a Pool of 20 players. Surely playing with FC balls is as important as it gets, its the equivalent of not giving our batters decent bats.It's priorities.

 

[Bewal Express]

why cant we make a local ball that mimicks the kookaburra or play our home tests with a local ball.

That requires planning and brains- 2 things we aren't renowned for

 

[Cricket Warrior]

I would rather prefer the Duke ball since it gets more movement due to its lighter weight.

We don't get much from the surfaces here in Pakistan but at least we can train our youngsters with the balls which supports seam and swing.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I would rather prefer the Duke ball since it gets more movement due to its lighter weight.

We don't get much from the surfaces here in Pakistan but at least we can train our youngsters with the balls which supports seam and swing.

First of all kookaburra is a superior ball to the Dukes right now. After they reinforced the seams for kookaburra balls in 2021, good bowlers are getting purchase from this ball

Dukes has gone down in quality since 2022 season with it being constantly replaced after every 20 overs it so.

 

[Bewal Express]

I would rather prefer the Duke ball since it gets more movement due to its lighter weight.

We don't get much from the surfaces here in Pakistan but at least we can train our youngsters with the balls which supports seam and swing.

You could use the Duke ball in a couple of games a year.

 

[cricketjoshila]

I have said this a few times,

Australia uses local Kookaburra balls
England uses local Dukes balls
India uses local SG balls

Pakistan has a very developed sports goods industry. CA,Malik,Ihsan all these manufacturers cannot produce test class cricket balls? Unbelievable.

PS: Duke's balls are now made in Pakistan. Why can't PCB use Duke's? Why run after Kookaburra?

 

[zarak]

I have said this a few times,

Australia uses local Kookaburra balls
England uses local Dukes balls
India uses local SG balls

Pakistan has a very developed sports goods industry. CA,Malik,Ihsan all these manufacturers cannot produce test class cricket balls? Unbelievable.

PS: Duke's balls are now made in Pakistan. Why can't PCB use Duke's? Why run after Kookaburra?

We always mess up our pitch and ball combos in domestic. Some years ago we produced green tops and used local Grays ball (similar to dukes). Dibbly dobbly bowlers were averaging in the teens. Our bowlers started struggling internationally.

To rectify we now have flat decks and kookaburras. Now it's raining 100s. Someone needs to tell them the formula.

Flat decks - Grays ball
Green tops- kookaburra

 

[RidiculousMan]

To be fair to Salman, he never argued for Kookaburra not to be used; he was just making an overservation. He said that even domestic clubs are stingy about using new balls during practice because there isn't so much money in these clubs.

He said that domestic matches need more TV coverage so players can get sponsors for kits more easily.

Domestic Cricket this year has been one of the worst ever. The nosedive in the quality of domestic cricket since Ramiz Raja's ousting has been appalling.

The journalists who are in the pocket of his majesty won't talk about these issues.

 

[RidiculousMan]

I have said this a few times,

Australia uses local Kookaburra balls
England uses local Dukes balls
India uses local SG balls

Pakistan has a very developed sports goods industry. CA,Malik,Ihsan all these manufacturers cannot produce test class cricket balls? Unbelievable.

PS: Duke's balls are now made in Pakistan. Why can't PCB use Duke's? Why run after Kookaburra?

It's a problem of intention first of all.

 

[cricketjoshila]

We always mess up our pitch and ball combos in domestic. Some years ago we produced green tops and used local Grays ball (similar to dukes). Dibbly dobbly bowlers were averaging in the teens. Our bowlers started struggling internationally.

To rectify we now have flat decks and kookaburras. Now it's raining 100s. Someone needs to tell them the formula.

Flat decks - Grays ball
Green tops- kookaburra

Keep the ball same.Local ball.

Pitches can be different at different venues. But the ball remains the same.