Latest news with #Kookaburra
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kent give themselves a chance in tense battle with Glamorgan
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day three) Kent 155 & 360: Finch 68, Stewart 63; Carlson 3-24 Glamorgan 327 & 25-2 Glamorgan (5 pts) need 164 more runs to beat Kent (3 pts) with eight second-innings wickets standing Match scorecard Glamorgan go into the final day on a precarious 25-2 chasing 189 to beat Kent after the visitors ground out a decent second innings total of 360. They were left 14 tricky overs to bat in the evening gloom, with Wes Agar and Matt Parkinson sending back Asa Tribe and Zain Ul Hassan cheaply. Middle-order men Harry Finch (68) and Grant Stewart (63) were the main Kent contributors while Ben Compton, Chris Benjamin and Joey Evison all fell in the forties. Glamorgan were forced to work hard for their wickets on a slow pitch with the Kookaburra ball, and without opening bowler Timm van der Gugten. Kiran Carlson (3-24) helped clean up the lower order after fellow off-spinner Ben Kellaway (2-83) went off following a marathon spell. Kent began the day at 106-1, 66 runs behind, and lost just two wickets in each of the first two sessions to get a foothold back in the match. Compton, who was leading the race towards 1,000 first-class runs, was fortunate to survive an inside edge off James Harris on 44 but could not take advantage as he was bowled for 48 off 147 balls by off-spinner Ben Kellaway. It was a battle of patience with no slip fielders and a slow scoring rate and Daniel Bell-Drummond fell with the visitors still six behind, the captain looking dismayed to be given out for 22 as his attempted pull lobbed up to sub keeper Alex Horton, deputising for Chris Cooke. Chris Benjamin, like Compton, had lasted for more than three hours for his 46 when he drove at a wide one from James Harris and dragged it on to his stumps. The new ball brought a rare clutch of boundaries as Joey Evison and Harry Finch put together a stand of 84 before Evison, on 49, drove Ul Hassan to cover. Grant Stewart was dropped at slip off Kellaway on one and that cost Glamorgan as he added 68 more with Finch to give Kent something to bowl at. Carlson, bowling after Kellaway left the field with a back issue, broke the stand as Finch chipped a return catch and claimed two more cheap wickets despite Stewart blasting three consecutive sixes. The Australian-Italian all-rounder was last out trying to hit another maximum off Leonard while the injured Joe Denly watched on after coming in last. It always looked likely to be a torrid time for Glamorgan and so it proved, with a ferocious spell from Agar who had Tribe caught at short-leg for four. Spinner Parkinson's second ball had Ul Hassan leg-before for 10, before Carlson and night-watchman Harris hung on to leave an absorbing game still up for grabs going into the final day.


BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Kent give themselves a chance in tense battle with Glamorgan
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day three)Kent 155 & 360: Finch 68, Stewart 63; Carlson 3-24 Glamorgan 327 & 25-2Glamorgan (5 pts) need 164 more runs to beat Kent (3 pts) with eight second-innings wickets standing Match scorecard Glamorgan go into the final day on a precarious 25-2 chasing 189 to beat Kent after the visitors ground out a decent second innings total of were left 14 tricky overs to bat in the evening gloom, with Wes Agar and Matt Parkinson sending back Asa Tribe and Zain Ul Hassan men Harry Finch (68) and Grant Stewart (63) were the main Kent contributors while Ben Compton, Chris Benjamin and Joey Evison all fell in the were forced to work hard for their wickets on a slow pitch with the Kookaburra ball, and without opening bowler Timm van der Carlson (3-24) helped clean up the lower order after fellow off-spinner Ben Kellaway (2-83) went off following a marathon spell. Kent began the day at 106-1, 66 runs behind, and lost just two wickets in each of the first two sessions to get a foothold back in the who was leading the race towards 1,000 first-class runs, was fortunate to survive an inside edge off James Harris on 44 but could not take advantage as he was bowled for 48 off 147 balls by off-spinner Ben Kellaway. It was a battle of patience with no slip fielders and a slow scoring rate and Daniel Bell-Drummond fell with the visitors still six behind, the captain looking dismayed to be given out for 22 as his attempted pull lobbed up to sub keeper Alex Horton, deputising for Chris Benjamin, like Compton, had lasted for more than three hours for his 46 when he drove at a wide one from James Harris and dragged it on to his new ball brought a rare clutch of boundaries as Joey Evison and Harry Finch put together a stand of 84 before Evison, on 49, drove Ul Hassan to Stewart was dropped at slip off Kellaway on one and that cost Glamorgan as he added 68 more with Finch to give Kent something to bowl bowling after Kellaway left the field with a back issue, broke the stand as Finch chipped a return catch and claimed two more cheap wickets despite Stewart blasting three consecutive sixes. The Australian-Italian all-rounder was last out trying to hit another maximum off Leonard while the injured Joe Denly watched on after coming in last. It always looked likely to be a torrid time for Glamorgan and so it proved, with a ferocious spell from Agar who had Tribe caught at short-leg for Parkinson's second ball had Ul Hassan leg-before for 10, before Carlson and night-watchman Harris hung on to leave an absorbing game still up for grabs going into the final day.


Indian Express
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
IND vs ENG: ‘If we think some changes need to be made or tightened up, we will': Dukes ball owner on Dukes ball being reviewed
While the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has seen its ups and downs with India now trailing the series 1-2 against England, the sees had also seen the regular change of Dukes balls, the balls used for the five Test match series in England. In the three Tests so far, the ball has been changed well before the stipulated 80 overs with England's first innings at Lord's seeing five ball changes due to going out of shape with one ball being switched after only 10.2 overs on the second day of the Test. In a latest development as reported by BCC, England and Wales Cricket Board will collect as many used Duke balls as possible and return them to the ball manufacturer by the end of this week to review the cause behind the issue. It was confirmed by Dilip Jajodia, owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd, the manufacturer of Duke balls, to the BBC and the owner also shared that everything will be reviewed in the manufacturing process. 'We will take it away, inspect and then start talking to the tanner, talking about all of the raw materials – everything. Everything we do will be reviewed and then if we think some changes need to be made or tightened up, we will,' Jajodia told BBC Sport. With India using the SG Balls and Australia using the Kookaburra balls, England has seen the usage of Dukes ball, which have benefited in production since 1760. Recent years have seen the Dukes ball going soft prematurely before the 80-over mark in Test cricket with the most recent incidents coming during the Lord's Test. After England won the toss and decided to bat first, the first innings saw the ball being changed five times with one ball being changed after 10.2 overs. It also saw an agitated Indian skipper Shubman Gill arguing with the on-field umpires and later some of the former cricket players too shared their views on the regular ball change slowing the game. Former England bowler Stuart Broad had called out the problem with the Dukes ball. '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 is being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable. It has been like this for five years now. Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it.' Broad had posted on X. Jajodia, who had bought British Cricket Balls Ltd from Grey-Nicolls in 1987, talked about the challenges being faced in manufacturing the Dukes ball. One is the raw materials which are natural and then have to be moulded and put together by a human being. Obviously the major aspect of a cricket ball is the leather that holds the whole thing together, and if the fibres that form the animal skin have got some sort of weakness or inherent problem that's something we can only find if it fails by further inspection and investigation. Covid did have a very serious effect on all sorts of businesses. In the whole process of tanning leather I would expect changes in personnel, whether either they passed away or decided that it was all too difficult. There is literally almost one tanner left that does cricket ball leather so there's not a choice. You have to work with the tannery to make sure that they produce what you want and by and large they do,' said the owner. Post the Lord's Test, former England skipper Joe Root also had shown his discontent over constant ball changes and blamed the issue for slowing the game. 'I personally think that if you want to keep getting the ball changed then each team gets three challenges every 80 overs and that's it. But the rings have to be the right size, not too big. That would be a nice way of compromising and saying it is not all on the manufacturer. Sometimes these things happen, but you cannot just keep asking and wasting time and slowing the game down at the same time,'Root had told Widen. With ECB now keen on getting to the cause of the issue and pushing for the resolvement of the ball going soft prematurely, Jajodia also talked about the need to be patient while the issues are found with the consultations with the ECB 'The unique nature of cricket is that you can't test that ball before it goes into play so therefore, if it fails, it fails in use and at the very highest level it's in the glare of publicity. All we can do to check everything as thoroughly as we can during the whole process of making the ball. At the end of the day, we've had three Test matches, they've all been good games. They've been interesting games. We should be very cautious and not be looking for drastic and dramatic changes. This is a product that's been going since 1760. There is no snap answer, all you can do is to go through the routine of everything that you do and try and identify,' said Jajodia.
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Business Standard
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Business Standard
'Soft' Dukes ball under review, says manufacturer after player complaints
In the eye of a storm, the manufacturer of the Dukes ball on Friday said it will conduct a thorough review following widespread criticism of the "soft" balls used in the first three Tests between India and England, according to a report in the BBC. The on-field umpires have regularly changed the balls in the ongoing five-match series as they were unable to retain hardness and were going out of shape quickly, particularly post 30 overs. The whole process has caused delays to the match proceedings. Following criticism by India captain Shubman Gill and former English pacer Stuart Broad, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will collect as many used balls as possible and return them to the company that produces Dukes balls by the end of the week. "We will take it away, inspect and then start talking to the tanner, talking about all of the raw materials - everything," Dilip Jajodia, owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd, who make the Dukes, 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." The ball used for Test series is decided by the host board. The Dukes is used in England, Test matches in India are played with the SG ball, while teams use the Kookaburra in Australia. The Dukes ball, which has been in production since 1760, has faced some issues in Test and County cricket in recent years. During the Lord's Test, Gill was upset with the ball they were given by the umpires after the second new ball had to be changed in the first hour of the second morning. While Jasprit Bumrah had taken three quick wickets with the original ball, the Indian bowlers failed to make a single breakthrough in the rest of the first session after the red cherry was changed. Broad, a fierce critic of the Dukes ball in recent years, also expressed his displeasure with the replacement ball. England lead the five-match series 2-1 after victories in London and Leeds, while India won in Edgbaston.


News18
18-07-2025
- Sport
- News18
Soft Dukes ball to be examined, says manufacturer after complaints
London, Jul 18 (PTI) In the eye of a storm, the manufacturer of the Dukes ball on Friday said it will conduct a thorough review following widespread criticism of the 'soft" balls used in the first three Tests between India and England, according to a report in the BBC. The on-field umpires have regularly changed the balls in the ongoing five-match series as they were unable to retain hardness and were going out of shape quickly, particularly post 30 overs. The whole process has caused delays to the match proceedings. Following criticism by India captain Shubman Gill and former English pacer Stuart Broad, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will collect as many used balls as possible and return them to the company that produces Dukes balls by the end of the week. 'We will take it away, inspect and then start talking to the tanner, talking about all of the raw materials – everything," Dilip Jajodia, owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd, who make the Dukes, 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." The ball used for Test series is decided by the host board. The Dukes is used in England, Test matches in India are played with the SG ball, while teams use the Kookaburra in Australia. The Dukes ball, which has been in production since 1760, has faced some issues in Test and County cricket in recent years. During the Lord's Test, Gill was upset with the ball they were given by the umpires after the second new ball had to be changed in the first hour of the second morning. While Jasprit Bumrah had taken three quick wickets with the original ball, the Indian bowlers failed to make a single breakthrough in the rest of the first session after the red cherry was changed. Broad, a fierce critic of the Dukes ball in recent years, also expressed his displeasure with the replacement ball. England lead the five-match series 2-1 after victories in London and Leeds, while India won in Edgbaston. PTI AH AH UNG view comments First Published: July 18, 2025, 17:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.