Are two balls better than one?

As I left my house on Saturday with the rain slapping down on my windscreen, I have to admit, I was not that optimistic of us getting much of a match in. Knowing that Plumtree was not the best ground and taking bad weather, I headed down the A52 on the short trip expecting another disappointing washout. Thankfully, through some excellent work of the Plumtree groundstaff (Mark Oldham) and the perseverance of both sets of players determined to get a match in, we managed to get through a 35 over match.

While it was disappointing for us not to hit our straps again with the bat, there were some real positives with the ball, and it was nice for me to get another good bowl and pleasing a few wickets for good measure.

I enjoyed bowling on Saturday, not just because the pitch offered a little turn, but also because the match ball felt good in my hand to bowl with. It is strange how sometimes you get a ball that feels really nice, almost a doting friend who you can command at free will to do what you wish. On other occasions, it just feels like an alien object, a disobedient child from a Year 11 maths lesson who will not follow any instruction!

Cricket balls, by their nature and construction are all unique. As much as the process of manufacture is a repetitive one, each product has variations in its many raw materials. As a result, each may behave slightly different to the next. Likewise each brand of ball can be quite different in its manufacture, the Dukes balls famed for their more pronounced seam and ability to swing for longer periods, the Kookaburras their flatter seam, durability and lack of swing after the first twenty overs or so.

A Dukes cricket ball with its darker appearance

It is a strange thought that in cricket we use a different type of ball in different parts of the world, or in different matches. Imagine in other sports where for instance a football might have a slightly different composition for Champions League matches than Premier League, or a tennis ball which has a different type of felt which effects they way it plays. I suppose at the South African Football World Cup in 2010 we saw a big fuss about the match ball supposedly swinging more than it should, Oggy would call this ‘wobble’.

Yet rather than have a continuous battle between two or three manufactures around the world, could we make the ball, and the way we use it, a more interesting part of the game? If you look at the way that cricket bats have developed over the last two decades, the batsman have once again benefited at the bowlers expense, as the cricket ball has remained exactly the same as it always has been. I am not suggesting some radical change up of its manufacture or allowing bowlers to tamper with the ball. No, my thoughts are more geared around how we could introduce a more tactical use of the cricket ball.

We could for instance, make it a rule that each team uses one innings with a Dukes Ball and one with a Kookaburra during a Test Match, allowing the bowling team to decide when they use each ball. This would then provide a consistency in the balls being used around the world, and also allow an interesting insight into what difference there really is in each type.

You could also adopt a similar approach in league cricket, where the team who lose the toss are allowed to decide which type of ball is used in the match. Or even allow teams to use 11 Dukes and 11 Readers balls during the season, but they can decide which matches they use them in and just declare their ball choice at the toss. This would then allow a captain to use a Dukes ball on a day where it might swing and seam a little more, or does he use them on the days where there is not as much assistance in the local conditions so as to get some benefit for his bowlers.

This could provide a really interesting tactical aspect to the game, and would also challenge manufacturers to provide the best ball for bowling with, and maybe just a little swing back in the bowlers favour, after all, we need it!