Kookaburra balls crucial in England getting better at international cricket: Rob Key

Kookaburra balls crucial in England getting better at international cricket: Rob Key

England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director Rob Key has advocated the use of Kookaburra balls for the domestic season. Key, while speaking to the Guardian has said that the use of ‘Australian made’ Kookaburra balls will help the domestic pacers get better. Key has argued that – Dukes ball used in England gets a lot of movement which the domestic pacers do not find once they graduate to the international level.

Key has advocated the use of Kookaburra balls for the entirety of the County season. The former England captain has made several key changes in the English cricketing system, starting from the appointment of Brendon McCullum as the Test team head coach. McCullum made drastic changes to the England set-up, and brought in a bold way of playing Test cricket, dubbed as the Bazball.

“I think it’s been fantastic,” said Key. “You see what four-day cricket is meant to be. I’ve watched quite a bit this week and seen some bloody good cricket. I would use the Kookaburra all the time. English cricket would be much better off for it,” Key told the Guardian.

“The weather has got in the way at times and seven of those nine matches [in round two] could have seen a result. But county cricket is meant to go four days. This week has shown it’s rewarding the right type of players. Cricket is about watching pace bowlers, spinners and really good batting. Four days is about the journey,” the ECB managing director further added.

Key said that watching medium pacers was a waste of time in slow pitches and wanted the fast bowlers to get better by using their pace and bounce.

“The pitches are slow this time of year but watching medium pacers is a waste of time,” said Key. “Teams need to find quicker bowlers or ones who will force a wicket. You can’t just keep running up bowling at 75mph. And in terms of those guys who are not express, you really work out who can bowl. Sam Cook, that was seriously impressive what he did,” said Key on the matter.

Kookaburra balls are widely used in international cricket. Dukes and SG are some of the other variants of balls used across the world.

Watch Live TV in English

Watch Live TV in Hindi