Are the Dukes balls good enough? We are constantly having to change them and it's a nonsense - BUMBLE ON THE TEST

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

The utterly farcical situation with the ball has had us all in a frenzy, with India requesting a change of the Dukes after just 63 balls of the second new ball.
It was then changed after another 48 balls. So you have to ask the question. Are these cricket balls of a good enough standard? Because we are constantly having to change them.
Stuart Broad summed it up perfectly: 'The cricket ball should be like a fine wicketkeeper. Barely noticed. We are having to talk about the ball too much because it is such an issue and being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable. Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it. A ball should last 80 overs. Not 10.'
England's innings lasted 112.3 overs and we went through five balls. So there is clearly an issue with the quality but the modern-day player also needs to crack on. Both captains complained pre-match about it but surely you can find one you like, lads.
As a former umpire, I've got a good idea of the procedure. The ground authority, Lord's in this case, will provide an assortment of replacements that have varying degrees of wear and tear.
When you've got a box of brand new balls, they will all go through the ring which is used as a measuring gauge. When the ball is in play, it starts to expand and if it can't go through the ring, a change is granted.
Jasprit Bumrah was making the second new ball go round corners in the morning with sublime skill. He bowled Ben Stokes, Joe Root and had Chris Woakes caught behind. Yet a few overs later, India complained about the ball and wanted it changed. For the life in me, I can't think why.
The replacement did nothing so India complained vociferously at the drinks break through the captain Shubman Gill and very quickly got their way.
Now you can't say 'can we have the other ball back' so we had three different balls in the morning session. That is nonsense, chaps. The farce is compounded because the game is stopped, momentum goes and the paying public, at £120 to £175 a pop, are left to watch grass grow and umpires carrying balls.
It's becoming a real problem when 15 overs of the allotted 90 remain unbowled at the close. Root weighed in last night with a suggestion on how to stop it: limit appeals to change the ball to three per 80 overs in line with the decision review system.
I go back to when I was an umpire and we would very rarely change. Umpires of yesteryear would say: 'Look, you chose it.' We'd tell them to crack on and throw it back to the fielding side, telling them that it would get knocked in shape. And we didn't carry the ring.
Now it's very easy for teams to ask for the ball to be checked and get it changed. Steve Harmison told me how Andrew Flintoff with his big hands and strength would squeeze the ball until it went out of shape to get it replaced.
A ball change is understandable if it's a rarity but it is far too common now. That said, it's worth noting the numbers. Wickets have come at an average of 86.09 between overs 31 to 80 in the series. That's the highest average in England since ball-by-ball records began and nobody wants a one-sided contest.
We tried to get in touch with Mr Dukes, Dilip Jajodia, but I think he was out with the duchess.