Game on: Dukes ball arrives in Melbourne club cricket
An English-manufactured cricket ball is being tested in one of Melbourne’s associations as its owner tries to establish a presence in Victorian competitions — all of which use Kookaburra.
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The Dukes cricket ball is about to get into the swing of Melbourne club cricket.
The North West Metropolitan Cricket Association (NWMCA) has become the first local association to go with the English-manufactured ball.
Dukes is keen to establish a presence in Victorian competitions, all of which use Kookaburra.
The Victorian Country Cricket League uses the Dukes ball for its Country Week competition.
Dukes has more of a market share in Queensland, through the Ipswich association, Brisbane private schools and some Premier cricket.
A handful of Premier clubs in Perth plays with the Dukes ball in lower grades, according to Phil O’Meara, a consultant for the Australian distributor of Dukes.
O’Meara, the president of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association, said the NWMCA’s decision to trial Dukes in senior cricket in 2020-21 represented a “breakthrough’’ and a “toe in the water’’.
He said Dukes was “very much against the might of Kookaburra’’.
O’Meara said the Dukes ball was hand-stitched and a “quality-made ball’’.
“It performs well. It lasts. There’s never any splitting; we never have any issues with the product,’’ he said.
“We’d like to expand, for sure.’’
The Dukes ball was being used in the second half of the Sheffield Shield season but the competition is going back to Kookaburra in 2020-21.
Victorian cricket operations manager Shaun Graf said the states were “pretty well unanimous that we’d prefer one ball’’.
He said the Dukes ball had a “ropy seam’’ and tended to swing more throughout an innings, whereas the Kookaburra would swing early and its higher seam produced movement off the pitch.
“The Kookaburra promotes a lot more reverse swing later in an innings, when the game is at the 40, 50, 60-over mark,’’ Graf said.
“The Dukes offers the more traditional swing.’’
He said he had been a “firm advocate’’ for the “Kooka’’.
“I’ve been fairly adamant that if we’ve got an Australian ball that is worldwide, which it is, and it’s served us pretty well, we support it,’’ Graf said.
Kookaburras also offers local associations cash and in-kind support.
The North West Metropolitan Cricket Association (NWMCA) is a synthetic competition and had been using a Gray-Nicolls ball.
It will test Dukes in its senior competitions and if the trials are successful the ball will be used at all levels.
“We undertook an extensive survey and trials following seasons of disappointing performance from another ball which then went out of production,’’ association president Peter Bryceson said.
“We looked at longevity for an 80 over match as well as the shape and shine left on the ball after the game.’’
He said price was also a factor, but performance was more important.
Dukes owner Dilip Jajodia said he was “delighted’’ the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association was giving his ball a go.
It will be manufactured especially for the association and carry the NWMCA logo.
“Competition is good for Australian cricket clubs who now have an opportunity to select alternative top quality products and not be constrained by only having one choice, “ Jajodia said.
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