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CA decides to go back to Kookaburra to encourage more spin bowling on
home pitches
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Melbourne(Agencies): Cricket Australia said on Thursday it has dropped
the British-made Dukes ball from its 2020/21 Sheffield Shield season and will
use only the Kookaburra to encourage more spin bowling on home pitches.
Dukes were introduced to
Shield cricket in 2016/17 to help prepare players for the ball used on English
pitches in the lead-up to the 2019 Ashes.
Australia retained the
urn in England last year for the first time since 2001 with a 2-2 draw in the
series.
"The introduction
of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead-up
to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English
opponents,” CA's Head of Cricket Operations Peter Roach said in a statement.
"We have noted that
spin bowlers in the ... Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in
recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use.
"We need spinners
bowling in First-Class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope
that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here."
The decision follows
complaints from Australian cricketers that spin bowling is being driven out of
the domestic game, in large part because of unreceptive, drop-in pitches.
Dilip Jajodia, the owner
of Dukes Cricket, said the firm was naturally "disappointed".
"It is also a shame
that it removes the element of competition, which CA was keen to promote at the
time Dukes was introduced into the Australian market," he said in a
statement. Reuters
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