Test players back Kookaburra balls use in domestic season

KARACHI: Test cricketers, including captain Sarfraz Ahmed, have backed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s decision to use Kookaburra balls in the domestic cricket season which begins on September 14.

PCB says that the use of Kookaburra balls is an effort to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket. Despite Pakistan’s men’s team playing its home Tests with the Kookaburra brand, the country’s first-class cricket had been played with the Dukes balls for the last two seasons.

Because of its hard leather and pronounced seam, Dukes had tilted the balance between the bat and the ball in the favour of the latter because of the prodigious seam and swing it provides to the fast-bowlers, especially early in the innings.

The Kookaburras gets softer as the day progresses, bringing in the spinners in the play. Though batsmen score runs more freely with the ball getting worn out, the Kookaburra ensures the right equilibrium throughout the day. The PCB expects the cricketers will learn how to operate at different stages of an innings.

Sarfaraz said that it was very important for a player to play the domestic cricket with the same ball that he would be playing with in international cricket. “This will give our bowlers, both Test and first-class, a fair idea of how the Kookaburra behaves at different stages of an innings. The more we play with the Kookaburra ball, the better it is for us,” he added.

Former skipper Azhar Ali said that the conditions in domestic cricket were becoming bowling friendly with the use of the Dukes on grassy surfaces. “Batting sides were losing a lot of wickets in the first 25 overs. The bowlers did not have to work hard,” he said.

“This will also increase the bowling speeds of our pacers because the Kookaburra demands a lot of effort. The Dukes can just be floated in the air. “The decision to use Kookaburra brand is a positive step because we play most of our international cricket with Kookaburra,” said Azhar.

Senior pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir also backed the PCB’s initiative. Wahab said: “This is going to benefit our fast-bowlers as we are playing our international cricket with the Kookaburra ball, except for when we play in England.”

Amir said: “All international cricket is being played with the Kookaburra ball, save England and the West Indies, and all of our international series are also going to be played with it.

“It is necessary for us to play with this ball because it helps our bowlers get accustomed to its swing and seam. The Dukes and Grays balls swing and seam more. They don’t give the right idea to our bowlers about how they have to go about their business after they break at the international level,” said Amir.