Sheffield Shield | Kookaburra to come up with turf balls having durable seam
Kookaburra is set to introduce turf balls that will be having more durable seam in the rounds five and six of the Sheffield Shield matches. The new balls are similar in shape and weight to that of the traditional ball but it has a more durable design which will keep the ball and seam hard enough.
The Kookaburra balls have faced criticism for a long time as they have a seam that does not stay upright for a long period of time and the ball becomes soft after 40 odd overs which makes batting very easy. It is extremely difficult for the bowlers to bowl on the flat drop-in pitches that have taken over from the traditional pacey and bouncy wickets in Australia.
Cricket Australia has thus come up with a solution in the form of new turf balls that are similar in weight and shape as that of the traditional Kokaburra but are different in the lining of leather. This new alignment of leather helps the seam to stay upright and the ball to stay hard for a long time, thus evening out the competition between the bat and ball.
"After an extensive process of testing in the laboratory, training and match conditions, we are confident that given good pitch and weather conditions the refined Turf ball will stay harder for longer, and produce more swing for longer periods. In time, we would like to see this ball being considered for future First-Class cricket in Australia," CA Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, told cricket.com.au.
CA and Kookaburra will begin to receive feedback about the ball after the conclusion of rounds six and seven of the Sheffield shield in order to know the impact that its introduction has created. However, the turf ball will not be used this summer at an international level as that will require the consent of a number of cricket boards.
"The timeline (for its use in Tests) is unknown - we'll get through the next two games and we'll reassess again. We'll work with Kookaburra to see if this is what we want to continue with for our first-class ball. We want to see balance between bat and ball and we hope this change further assists this," he added.
Roach believes that this fundamental change to the Kookaburra ball can even out the contest between the bat and the ball at the international level as well if the boards agree to play with it.
"Then, if all is going well, can we potentially make a change to the global game? That is a possibility, but that is still some way off. We don't just want Shield cricket to be a great contest between bat and ball - we want Test cricket to have a great balance," he concluded.
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