England Cricket Board (ECB) opted to use Kookaburra balls for the first two rounds of County Championship 2024 after experimenting it in the two rounds during 2023 mid-season.
This created a ruckus among the fans and players after an unwanted historic feat at the end of second round of County Championship 2024.
No team gets a win in the second round of County Championship 2024, and this is only the third instance in the history of English county cricket when all 18 counties played simultaneously.
In my interview with the cricketer from Sussex CCC, Danny Lamb, he said: “There is a massive difference between Dukes and Kookaburra balls. Dukes ball seam stays harder for longer and more pronounce. You get a little bit of lateral movement on flat pitches and little bit of bounce so you stay in the game.
“Where the Kookaburra ball is hardly making it to the keeper and soft. This is the difficulty about it.”
Though an unpredictable English weather played its part during the second round, lack of grip and movement from the Kookaburra ball made the life difficult for the bowlers.
Average wickets per match in the first two rounds of County Championship 2024 which used Kookaburra ball is 25.4 & 21.2 in Division One and Two respectively which is very low when compared to last year which had Dukes ball in action for the early rounds.
In 2023, the average wickets per match is 31.9 & 29.8 in Division One and Two respectively.
Danny Lamb also added that: “The thinking behind it is to benefit the England international team on overseas tours. The only problem in kookaburra balls is using that in the start of the season where pitches have been bogue and wet.”
Jonathan, an ardent England cricket fan also said the same. He told: “If we want to beat Australia, we have to practice with the Kookaburra but in August not in April.”
The main reason behind ECB’s experiment to change from Dukes to Kookaburra is to changes their fortunes in away tours especially in Ashes down under.
