Kookaburra vs Dukes: The ECB's Ballsy Experiment for Ashes Glory

The recently-concluded Anderson Tendulkar Trophy was a mouthwatering ensemble of skill, perseverance and drama. England and India fought toe to toe and no other outcome than a 2-2 sharing of the honours would have been a fair reflection of the series.

There were numerous noteworthy performances from both sides and enough fire in the middle to ensure edge-of-the-seat entertainment. The five Tests were so engaging that even deliberate time wasting only added to the overall theatrics. However, the only aspect of the series that resulted in a dull moment was the frequent dissatisfaction with the ball for the fielding captain, especially in the first three Tests.

For the uninitiated, across all of professional cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) uses a ball manufactured by Dukes. While other countries like Australia use balls manufactured by Kookaburra and India uses SG.

To prepare England better for the Ashes, next scheduled in Australia from November 2025 to January 2026, the ECB opted to mandate the use of the Kookaburra ball in select County Championship matches since the 2023 season.

Dr Johan Rewilak, the Chief Economist at Gibson Alexander, has produced an insightful analysis of the impact of this experiment. You can find his research in full here. 

We sat down with him earlier this week to talk more about his research.

Question 1: Can you provide us with a brief overview of the ECB's plan for use of the Kookaburra ball in the County Championship?

Dr Rewilak: The ECB’s plan to use the Kookaburra ball was primarily driven to provide English bowlers with experience of using the ball for the Ashes this coming Winter. It epitomises the international and national hierarchical nature of cricket (and also rugby) and the organisation of the sport, where the County Championship was the sandbox to try and squeeze extra performance out of the national team. It is hard to imagine such fundamental testing in the English Premier League to improve the English national team. In any case, whether the bowlers who excelled with the Kookaburra ball will make the cut to play against Australia is yet to be seen. In either case, because the Kookaburra ball has a less pronounced seam, the age-old strategy of: run up, bowl and let the ball do the work; upon which English bowlers have relied domestically won't cut it with a Kookaburra. Instead, they have to adapt, be innovative with their fielding set ups and variations which should add to a bowler's capital, in order to provide them with those additional skills that may be required for success in Australia.

Question 2: Do you see merit in the experiment and any further use?

Dr Rewilak: I think the experiment is worthwhile. If you train for a marathon, you are more likely to go on longer runs, rather than conduct sprint training. Training with the correct equipment is the same. Would professional football teams use size 4 footballs exclusively in practice when on the game day they play with a size 5? So providing bowlers with experience of the Kookaburra in my opinion is necessary. Was the County Championship and forcing all bowlers and batters to face this ball the optimal place for this setting? You could argue no, but what else could the ECB do? Having said that, its trials in Spring and Autumn may have been not so well thought out, as the English wickets at this time of year would not resemble Australian type-wickets that have a heavier clay content.

Question 3: Some counties, especially the reigning champions of the past three years, Surrey, were critical of the experiment. Is their criticism fair?

Dr Rewilak: This links back to the hierarchical nature of cricket. This policy was carried out to help the English national team in Australia. Now don't get me wrong, Surrey have done wonderful things in diversifying their revenue streams, but ultimately the counties are heavily subsidised by the ECB. In Surrey's case, teams will find a reason to complain if it doesn't benefit them either on the pitch or financially. So I don't think their criticism is fair whatsoever. I believe one quote from Surrey was that it is like playing with 10 men. However, both teams are affected equally by it, so it would still be 10 v 10 rather than 11 v 11. I do sympathise in one-off games, perhaps a game that Surrey would have expected to win may have ended in a draw, but one could consider lots of factors that impact the result of a match. Should games North of the Watford gap be given an extra 2 sessions due to the latitude and weather. For me, the ECB made it clear this trial was to take place; it wasn't a surprise on the day.

Question 4: As a policy, what do you think are the flaws in its implementation, if any? Could those flaws be corrected by any evolution of the Kookaburra policy?

Dr Rewilak: I may have mentioned earlier, that for me if you are training, you want to replicate the conditions to the real event. Here, using a Kookaburra in Australia. Perhaps the Spring and Autumn fixtures may have not been ideal, but it seems given the 2025 trial, lessons have been learnt. Similarly, it may be worthwhile to have half a season of fixtures with the Kookaburra (so every team plays one another at least once with the ball) to perhaps improve competitiveness. However, with the red ball calendar staged as it is, this could prove difficult with the lack of games during peak Summer.

Question 5: Do you think that a mandate to use a certain ball should also be implemented at club level within each county?

Dr Rewilak: I don't think so. Despite being a fan of the trial, I do like the Dukes ball despite its recent problems. It has been a tradition in English cricket and one element of playing home Tests in England is also dealing with the movement of the ball. At the county level, could there be something to try and tip the scales regarding the toss? For example, the winner of the toss decides to bowl or bat first, the loser then decides whether a kookaburra or dukes ball is to be used? It might make things fun, but often such decisions come with unintended consequences.

Indian captain Shubman Gill and pacer Akashdeep unhappy with the shape of the ball during the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy. Image Credit: Google

Question 6: In light of the latest controversy surrounding the Dukes ball losing shape too soon, is there a possibility of the ECB experimenting with the Kookaburra ball even for international cricket in the future?

Dr Rewilak I think one aspect of home advantage is selecting the equipment, tools etc. to benefit the home side. If that is using a Dukes ball, I cannot see why the ECB would change that. Money does talk, would changing a ball to avoid a 5-0 series drubbing with games lasting 2 or 3 days be on a policy makers agenda? Perhaps, filling out the final Test with the series in the balance and a game going into the final day would surely maintain spectator interest. But this is all highly speculative. The Dukes ball losing shape is another issue that Dukes need to rectify. My statistical evidence shows that the sporting contest was not harmed by the Kookaburra ball despite its criticism and claims. Therefore at the County Championship it is a viable option and I can't see why it wouldn't be at the international level should the Dukes ball become inferior in quality.