The red ball in Cricket - Kookaburra, Dukes, SG!

Have you ever wondered how Shane Warne was so successful in Tests in Australia where the conditions are pacer-friendly?! How James Anderson can produce such great swing with the Dukes red ball in English conditions?! And why are Indian spinners more effective at home than in the Overseas Test matches?!

If we go little deeper into the details of how Test matches are played on various geographies, the answers for all the above queries and many more that goes through your mind are pretty simple! But don't worry! We have done all the work for you, starting from what balls are used in what countries to how are they made to suit the climatic conditions!

What is a typical Cricket ball made of?

A core of cork, (multiple) layered with a tightly wound string and covered by a leather case with a sewn seam is typically called as a cricket ball. In the case of a cricket ball, the seam that runs around the ball typically at the equator region, is slightly raised than the leather case.

In a high-quality ball, the leather case consists of four pieces. Each piece is equal to a quarter of a circle. However, one half (two out of four pieces put together to form the shape of a cup) of leather case is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the other half. Both the rotated halves, which are placed over the wound string, are then tightly stitched by seam to form the shape of a ball.

à Predominantly, Cricket balls made by three manufacturers (Dukes, Kookaburra and SG) are used in all the international and in most of the domestic matches across the globe. The nature of the cricket ball depends on the manufacturer of the ball.

àNo ICC Rules or Regulations apply for the type of Cricket balls to be used in a match. The decision truly vests in the hand of the national cricket board of the hosting country.

à Kookaburra white balls are used in all the limited-overs (one-day and Twenty20) international matches, while different countries use different balls in the longest format of the game (Tests). England, Ireland and West Indies use Dukes ball while India uses SG ball. While rest of the countries use Kookaburra Red ball for Test Matches.

Let us discuss about the red balls produced by the top three manufacturers.

Kookaburra:

Kookaburra are the biggest manufacturers of cricket balls in the current generation of cricket. The balls are machine stitched and have a low seam compared to their rivals, SG and Dukes. This is because the inner two rows of the seam bind the two halves of the ball, while the remaining four rows in the seam are just a mere decoration.

Owing to this fact, the seam doesn't stay put for longer period making it hard for the pacers and spinners to extract swing and spin respectively from the pitch. As a blessing in disguise, the wrist-spinners do not have to depend just on seam to grip and spin the ball! Now you know, why is Shane Warne, being a wrist-spinner, so successful in the Australian conditions!

Dukes:

The seam of the Dukes ball has six rows which are manually stitched, and binds the two halves of the ball together. Due to manual stitching, the seam of Dukes ball stays put for around 50 to 55 overs and moreover, it swings the most compared to its rivals due to its raised seam.

Dukes ball is also pacer-friendly! No surprise why England and West Indies pacers produce such great bowling spells! It is also comparatively darker because of the extra leather grease added to it to protect it from rains. The extra darkness is also the reason why Dukes red balls are referred as ‘brand new cherry’. Due to the extra shine, spinners find it hard to extract spin with a new Dukes ball.

SG:

Like the Dukes ball, SG ball also has its all six rows of the seam manually stitched binding the two halves together very strongly. Due to the less shine and relatively low seam, SG ball does not swing as much as the Dukes or Kookaburra does. However, SG has the advantage of being more suitable for reverse swing after getting old.

The manually stitched seam and less shine helps spinners grip the SG ball better, which helps them put more revolutions at the point of release. Only India uses the SG ball for their Test matches at home. Aided with slow sub-continent pitch conditions, SG ball is better operated by spinners than the pacers! This could be one of the reasons why India's Ravichandran Ashwin in more successful in Tests played in India compared to overseas games.

Traditional Test matches are played during the day time and using a red ball. However, in a bid to conduct Test and first-class matches during night, Pink balls were developed as early as in 2000s. This move also aimed at attracting more audience to the stadium for Tests.

Pink Ball:

It took almost nine years for Pink ball to make its maiden international appearance in 2009 - between England Women and Australia Women in an ODI match. And after around six years later, it made its first appearance in a day-night Test match in November 2015 - between Australia and England at the Adelaide Oval.

Due to poor visibility under lights, red balls are not suited for day-night matches. On the other hand, white balls cannot be considered because it deteriorates quickly after bowling around 20 to 30 overs. Moreover, white balls cannot be used in Test cricket because it is hard to spot the ball as the Test format is played in traditional whites!

To address these issues, pink ball had come into existence. It is being reported that other colors balls - Yellow and Orange were also tried for the night games but Pink proved to be a better option due to its better results during the testing phase and in first-class cricket. Pink balls were proved to be more difficult to see than a white ball under lights but a workaround was provided to overcome this issue. They are heavily dyed or shined to preserve its color for a longer period of time.

Conclusion:

For Test matches, Kookaburra red balls are widely used by the cricket playing nations across the globe except for four countries. England, Ireland and West Indies use Dukes ball while India uses SG ball. There has been an ongoing debate for using a similar ball in all the conditions or countries. And there are many who support the topic with equal share of people opposing the discussion as well! Also, the balls are manufactured keeping in mind the climatic conditions of a country in which the balls are to be used. All these factors make it hard to use a similar ball in all the countries.

Kookaburra in association with tech innovators SportCor are developing a 'Smart Ball' - a ball with microchip inside! As per the reports, a Smart Ball moves and feels like the regular Kookaburra ball but collects and communicates instant data on speed – at release, pre-bounce and post-bounce and many more details! Smart Ball which is still in the testing phase will help in experiencing the game better.