Kookaburra v Duke

What’s the big deal? They’re both red, round and weigh the same, right?

Well, yes but there are differences to the naked eye. The England-made Duke is hand-stitched and has a more pronounced, and slightly larger seam, which makes it the favourite of seam bowlers the world over. The Australian-made Kookaburra has a flatter seam, is machine-stitched and tends to be friendlier to batsmen earlier in their innings than the Duke.

Are they the only balls used in tests?

No, there’s the SG which is used in India. But the Kookaburra has the widest international presence, used in places such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in their de facto home of the United Arab Emirates. England and the West Indies use the Duke.

Was this a difficult decision for New Zealand Cricket?

In the end probably not. There is a bit of loyalty in the backing of Kookaburra, who have been New Zealand’s ball of choice for many years. But Duke have pushed hard and at the same time there have been problems with Kookaburras going out of shape early more frequently in the last couple of years.

So is this a decision made in the batsmen’s favour?

Not necessarily. If bowlers want to get better, the argument is they’ll learn more from mastering the Kookaburra than running in and, at medium pace, dobbing the more user-friendly Duke ball on a length and watch it hoop about at will. Also Kookaburra have been open in letting New Zealand experiment with different balls. There were trials at provincial A with the Duke and using a different Kookaburra in a round of first-class level last season. That could, theoretically, be extended to allowing New Zealand to work with a batch of Duke balls ahead of their next tour to England, or the Caribbean. NZC liked their flexible attitude.