Dukes Owner Makes U-Turn, Says Balls To Be 'Reviewed' After Multiple Complaints
Dilip Jajodia, owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd, will review and change Dukes balls after complaints from Indian and English players during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Dilip Jajodia, the owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd, who make the Dukes, has promised to 'review' their product and 'make changes' amid regular complaints from Indian and English players, pundits, and experts during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will send as many used Dukes balls it can collect from the first three Tests to the company by the end of the week for the process to begin.
The home board for a Test decides which maker of the ball will be used. Dukes is one of the oldest ball brands and has been used in England for decades. Until the last few years, it was renowned for its pronounced seam, dark maroon color and significant help for bowlers. However, in the ongoing series, apart from those characterstics going muted, the balls have been getting too soft to bowl within a few overs.
'We will take it away, inspect and then start talking to the tanner, talking about all of the raw materials – everything," Dilip Jajodia told BBC Sport. 'Everything we do will be reviewed and then if we think some changes need to be made or tightened up, we will."
This is in contrast to his stance from only a few days ago when the complaints were piling up. For example, on July 12, in an interview with The Hindustan Times he had blamed the pitches, the hard new bats and even the English weather.
'The balls are being hit harder, further, and therefore impacting things like pillars and seats and so on," he said. 'All these have an impact on the ball. When you look at any ball objectively, it's a small round object and it's been battered all day. To expect that to be perfectly in shape all day is an impossibility. It can't be done, nobody can do it. Also, we are playing a lot of Test cricket in England on drier and harder pitches. In the good old days of English cricket where the pitches were green and moist, the gold would be on the ball after 50 overs, it would be beautifully protected. But those days are gone."
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