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[The_Bird]

Do we know how the dukes would fare in every single condition around the world?

[Number4]

How do you come to that conclusion?

[ProCricketer1982]

well not only can you see it on the tv constantly but also if you buy a duke yourself for nets and buy a kooka for nets you'll find out pretty quickly which one lasts longest (as in seaming, swinging etc).

[PedalsMcgrew]

Hardly any seam, less stitching on it I believe and it goes softer much quicker. Give the bowlers a chance, especially if the pitches are as dire as the ones we are seeing at the moment. The best games are a good balance between bat and ball.


Dammit, still can't 'quote'!!

@The-Bird

We don't but they used Dukes in Dubai for all the pre-season stuff and people loved them....they swung around corners and stayed hard for a decent amount of time.
 

[Number4]

well not only can you see it on the tv constantly but also if you buy a duke yourself for nets and buy a kooka for nets you'll find out pretty quickly which one lasts longest (as in seaming, swinging etc).

I wouldn't say a ball the swings and seam more is a better ball. I would say swing and seam should come down to the skill of the bowler..

Here in Aus 99% of all cricket played from juniors right up to first class and test we all use Kookaburra balls... From what I gather from posts on here every team seems to use a different ball... Why is that? Why isn't it uniform where all teams must use the same ball?

[The_Bird]

Thats fair enough pedals, my point was it's hard to make a comparison without knowing how the dukes would compare in similar conditions. I would imagine a contract to provide cricket balls for 90% of the games in world cricket is a very long and expensive one.

Who makes the one day balls in England?

[Buzz]

@number 4

so we don't have a monopoly on ball providers!!

hello the free market and competition helping lower prices

[Number4]

Hardly any seam, less stitching on it I believe and it goes softer much quicker. Give the bowlers a chance, especially if the pitches are as dire as the ones we are seeing at the moment. The best games are a good balance between bat and ball.


Dammit, still can't 'quote'!!

@The-Bird

We don't but they used Dukes in Dubai for all the pre-season stuff and people loved them....they swung around corners and stayed hard for a decent amount of time.

So England like using them cause they are a ball they are able to bowl swing with?

[Number4]

@number 4

so we don't have a monopoly on ball providers!!

hello the free market and competition helping lower prices

Just supporting an Australian company and Australian jobs Buzz

[ProCricketer1982]

I wouldn't say a ball the swings and seam more is a better ball. I would say swing and seam should come down to the skill of the bowler..

Here in Aus 99% of all cricket played from juniors right up to first class and test we all use Kookaburra balls... From what I gather from posts on here every team seems to use a different ball... Why is that? Why isn't it uniform where all teams must use the same ball?

still comes down to 'skill' (or action that's probably random more than skill ) to bowl swing/seam. However, I completely agree with you that's it's a good thing to use the same ball for all games. That is something I wish would happen in this country. I sure Dukes could produce a few million more balls and keep the costs down if they wanted too. (plus it would stop leagues using some really shockingly bad balls!)

The main nation I'm surprised doesn't choose Dukes is SA. I can understand India (apparently someone is cleverer than I am and says it's SG that provide Indias ball), Pak and SL using Kook as they like batting so would choose the batter friendly ball. NZ is basically just Australia (sorry Kiwi's ) and Kooks are an Aussie company so Aus will have to use them.

[ProCricketer1982]

So England like using them cause they are a ball they are able to bowl swing with?

Why do you think it takes more 'skill' to bowl with a Kooka? It's the same when both are new etc. The difference (as people have said and you are ignoring) is one will go soft quickly and become a dead ball and the other will continue to swing/seam for longer and so provide a better contest between bat and ball. 'Skill' has no baring on it as it's the same skill with both balls and as far as I can see all nations can swing both balls (and I'm pretty sure anyone on this forum who swings a kook or duke could swing the other one if asked)

[Number4]

India use SG balls ProCricketer

[ProCricketer1982]

India use SG balls ProCricketer

Fine, remove Ind from that list. Point still stands.

[PedalsMcgrew]

It's a pointless argument anyway. The Dukes gives the bowlers more of a chance. More of a chance for the bowlers means a better game on the flat, lifeless pitches most nations produce now. That's what I'm after, games that are worth watching.

[Red Ink Cricket]

my experience of playing in australia is that yes the ball used may be of the same brand ( i cant remember if i used a kookaburra or not) but the balls vary between grades of cricket. I remember bowling for a grade 2 side when we used a 4 piece ball that moved a little but after a minor injury i dropped down the the grade 3 side and we used a 2 piece ball that i could swing round corners. surely thats not exactly equal? you would be in the nets at training with guys from 1st grade running in and bowling at decent pace swinging it a little, you were able to playing it easily. you would then face a lower grade bowler bowling boomeranging donkey drops which were impossible to play. in the UK we may use different branded balls per leagues but atleast ( to my knowledge anyway) all balls have to be 4 piece.

a soft ball does nothing for the game and leads to tame draws. do we think that a dukes ball in the first 2 tests would have led to two draws, even with the rain? maybe not. yes they may have still been draws but it would have been a little more of a scrap and fight towards the end. it would have kept the bowlers interested longer as the harder ball would have given them a little more reward for their efforts. i would also say that on a small ground 250-1 in a days play showed we bowled well just without luck/created many chances. it could be the fact the batsman played well or we didnt make them play enough but im sure a dukes ball which stays harder for longer would have made it more interesting. you would have expected a fair amount more to be scored when boundaries are only 53m.