- Former England coach on the week that proved the experiment has failed… it’s simply not producing a fair contest for players or entertainment for fans
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The last two rounds of County Championship fixtures were the latest to be played using a Kookaburra ball, rather than the usual Dukes, as part of an ongoing experiment following a review into English cricket led by former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss three years ago.
The idea is that the ball – used in almost all overseas nations, and considered to lose its shape quicker and go softer earlier – will give English bowlers experience of bowling in unfamiliar conditions and improve their skillset.
But over the last fortnight we have seen bowlers toil, batters making hay with 59 centuries scored, Surrey piling on the highest total in 18 years of Championship cricket and 13 of the 18 matches ending in draws.
In theory, using a Kookaburra ball is a worthy experiment because if you go and play Test cricket, that’s what you will be using overseas but we’ve seen enough now to know that it doesn’t fit our conditions.
This week, I’ve seen two separate Championship games with slow and low pitches at Chesterfield and York.
After the first 15 overs, the ball has gone soft, the pitch is unreceptive, and you can see the ball hitting the bottom of the bat almost every time. The plunk sounds like a railway sleeper.
Surrey scoring 820 and declaring against Durham seemed like a protest against the Kookaburra. And let’s be honest. It’s turning into a farce.
We’ve had 800s, 700s, 600s and 500s and it’s because the ball is not suited to the UK. Seven of the nine matches ended in draws last week and another six this week. The likelihood of a result is minimal.
Just ask the question innocently to the bowlers and stand by for some real expletives.
Like I said, the idea is reasonable but pitches in Australia are by and large, harder, quicker and bouncier. And the climate of Australia is by and large, hot.
For it to work and teams to get 20 wickets, you need big pace, a hard, quick pitch, sunshine and quality wrist spin. All of these are commodities that we don’t get in abundance here.
There’s no pace off the pitch, no pace off the ball and hardly any wrist spin, so the batters are not scoring that quickly but you can’t get them out.
Players like Shane Warne were fine with that because they’d spin anything. Give him any ball and he’d say ‘I’m not bothered what you give me, I’ll spin it’. But he’s one of a kind.
Speaking to my mates at York, they said the first two days of Yorkshire’s match with Essex were boring. Nobody wants to watch that and the reaction across social media tells you everything because it is not a good contest.
Go back to someone like Michael Atherton, who even as an opening batter, would always want an even contest between bat and ball. With the Kookaburra ball here, it’s entirely loaded towards the batter.
It’s a much better idea for those bowlers that England see as potential Test cricketers to play proper cricket abroad, perhaps through a Lions tour.
It’s also worth mentioning that pitches in Australia are abrasive so when the ball gets softer, reverse swing comes in. We rarely get that here. My conclusion is that there’s no value in the experiment.
And why are we obsessed with the Kookaburra ball over here? I know the Aussies have trialled using a Dukes ball before but they don’t bother anymore.
Ultimately, this trial is coming at the compromise of the quality of our county cricket. And I don’t like the idea of experimenting with our traditional product. It’s a fabric of society.
And no, I’m not having a word with my mate Rob Key because he’s behind it!
