New ball taken: Refined Kookaburra now in play

A rejuvenated red Kookaburra ball Cricket Australia (CA) hopes will swing for longer could one day be used in Test cricket in Australia – and abroad – if an upcoming Marsh Sheffield Shield trial is successful.

The final two Shield rounds before the KFC Big Bash break will feature a subtly different ball which has been subject to ongoing testing and tinkering by Kookaburra in recent years.

To the naked eye, the ball appears no different. It is the same shape and weight, and features the same seam structure to the one currently used for first-class and Test cricket in Australia and around the world.

But it's hoped tweaks to the ball's leather will ensure it maintains its hardness for longer and therefore offer fast bowlers conventional swing for longer periods.

The concept is very much in its infancy and the ball will not be used for Test cricket this summer, but CA's Head of Cricket Operations Peter Roach believes it could in the future – and not just in Australia.

"The timeline (for its use in Tests) is unknown - we'll get through the next two games and we'll reassess again," Roach told cricket.com.au. "We'll work with Kookaburra to see if this is what we want to continue with for our first-class ball. We want to see balance between bat and ball and we hope this change further assists this.  

"Then, if all is going well, can we potentially make change to the global game? that is a possibility, but that is still some way off.

"We don't just want Shield cricket to be a great contest between bat and ball – we want Test cricket to have a great balance."

Roach says CA has received largely positive feedback about the ball since introducing to the state second XI competition and for training sessions at domestic level.

The Kookaburra ball has come under the microscope at international level in recent years, copping criticism for deteriorating too quickly, while some domestic players have claimed the British-made Dukes ball (used for Ashes series played in England) is superior.

Even if CA is happy with the Shield trial, changing the ball used for international cricket would be a complex process involving other international cricket boards.

"Kookaburra work closely with all governing bodies in exploring continuous improvement in the game and are very appreciative of the opportunity CA have afforded us in this area," said Kookaburra Sport Managing Director Brett Elliot.

"We were set a small challenge by CA and its playing group and our research and development team had a number of existing concepts that could potentially meet this challenge.

"The new leather lining concept is something we've worked on internally for a number of years and we're now happy to partner further with CA on it to see if there's benefit to the game."

Roach stressed pitch and weather conditions are often a more important factor than ball composition in how the ball performs, but that hasn't stopped CA from pursuing "utopia".

"It was the (desire) of coaches, players and high-performance managers to want to keep trying to seek that perfect balance – the utopia," said the former Victoria wicketkeeper.

"The two balls we had in operation last year – we had the Kookaburra that in certain conditions we'd like to ideally swing more and stay harder for longer. Then we had the dukes that was in some conditions the other extreme – it didn't deteriorate a lot and could be seen to swing too much.

"So we thought, why don't we try to move that Kookaburra to swing a bit more for longer and try to remove those perceived questions on it?"

"It is subtle, we're not seeking major changes because we know it is a quality cricket ball. But we believe if we can achieve (improvement), the game will be better for it with a better balance between bat and ball."

The Dukes ball was introduced by CA to the Sheffield Shield in 2016 and will be used for the post-BBL portion of the season for a fifth consecutive summer when the first-class competition resumes in February.

With the next Ashes tour to be held in far-off 2023, the Dukes' ongoing use will be reassessed at the end of the season by CA's recently-appointed dual high-performance chiefs Ben Oliver and Drew Ginn.

Quantifying the success of the experiment is difficult but Roach said retaining the Ashes on English soil for the first time since 2001 earlier this year, combined with a breakout tour from Marnus Labuschagne who has played the majority of Queensland's games with the Dukes ball over the past four seasons, was encouraging.

"One of the reasons the Dukes was brought in was to better our chances of success in England and I think everyone would say that we performed admirably over there," he said.

"How much of that was on people being more used to the Dukes ball? I don't think we know the answer.

"Some of our players who don't play much Shield cricket after Christmas – our international bowlers for example – they probably haven't had much access to the Dukes ball (before this year's Ashes).

"But for some of our batsmen like Marnus, walking into the Test team (from the Sheffield Shield), it probably did have an advantage. They're the things we've got to weigh up."