The ongoing Lord’s Test between England and India is being closely contested as the action has moved into Day 3. But over the first two days, the Dukes ball has been at the centre of attention. Not just in this match, but also in the first two Tests of the series, both teams — especially the captains Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill —have raised concerns about the quality of the balls being used.
On Day 2 at Lord’s, the ball controversy came to the fore during the 91st over of England’s innings. Indian captain Shubman Gill and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj showed clear frustration with the condition of the ball. They asked the umpires to replace it. The umpires agreed to the request. However, the replacement ball appeared to be much older. This led to criticism from various quarters, with many questioning the standards being followed.
Dilip Jajodia, the owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd. (the makers of Dukes balls), was present at Lord’s. In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, he addressed the concerns. He said: “Obviously, we listen to comments and observations. But this (the ball going out of shape and getting softer) is not something unusual, it's been happening ever since cricket has been played. Not everything is static, it's not an engineered product in that sense. Essentially, we make the balls to a standard. People often ask if the balls being made now are different from last year. No, we make the balls at a specification using the very best raw materials.”
Jajodia explained how natural materials are used to make the ball, which can lead to small variations. “What people must understand is that raw materials are natural. A hide, which is one cow, produces a maximum of 12 balls at Test level. A lot of cows are involved and they're not exactly the same. So, that's one essential problem. But our job is to try and select as close as possible the leather for the top-quality ball, which is what we do. And then, of course, you've got the human element (the Dukes is an entirely hand-stitched ball). The workers are not exactly the same. It's like handwriting; there might be slight variations. And that's the romance of cricket, that it's not exactly the same. We try to make it exactly the same, but it's never going to be exactly the same. Then you've got other interactions like the climate,” he added.
Jajodia stressed that his company takes the matter very seriously. “I can assure you, we take this hugely seriously. We don't want to have our reputation tarnished because we're not making the product properly,” he said. “We're making the product the best we can. And if there's an issue, there's a review at the end of the season. (But) I can't change course (now). The lead times are huge, you can't suddenly go to another batch and so on. The balls have been made. They're in the system.”
He added: “My job is to keep my head down and keep going because that's the best thing to do. The main thing is to assure people that I haven't casually put my feet up on my desk and said, ‘You know, we’ll make some rubbish this year because we're in the mood to do it’. We really do make a huge effort to get it right and it's very irritating when these problems happen.”
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