Northants head coach Lehmann doesn’t ‘see the point’ in use of Kookaburra ball in English cricket

A high performance review in 2022, which was led by former England captain Andrew Strauss, recommended the use of the Kookaburra ball in certain matches over the course of the summer, replacing the Dukes ball that is used normally in England.

The Kookaburra has a less prominent seam than the Dukes, and also goes softer earlier, but is the ball used for Test cricket in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

The thinking behind the use of the ball in the UK, which is also backed by England's managing director of cricket Rob Key, is so English bowlers can get used to bowling with it, and will therefore be better prepared if they are selected to play international cricket for their country and asked to use the ball in foreign conditions.

But the experiment is not going down well with many in the English game.

The Kookaburra was used in last week's round of four-day fixtures and is being used again this week, including in Northants' Rothesay County Championship Division Two clash with Kent at Canterbury.

And the combination of a very flat pitch and a ball not doing very much either in the air or off the pitch has led to the bat very much dominating the ball, as it has in most of the matches up and down the country.

At Canterbury, Northants were sitting pretty at 140 for one at the close of play on day two in reply to Kent's 566 for eight declared.

The Kookaburra is also due to be used in the two rounds of Championship matches in July, and former Australia coach Lehmann, who was seen in a lively discussion with match referee Mike Smith during lunch at Canterbury on Monday, is mystified as to why that is the case.

“I wouldn’t be using it," said the Northants head coach. "Look, you’re trying to create something that’s not going to work in England.

"I mean the Kookaburra ball is for Australian conditions on wickets that are harder and have got some carry.

"The Dukes ball, we’ve tried that before in an Ashes for example, a Dukes ball goes all over the shop in Australia and the game’s finished in two days.

"Conversely here, you need a Dukes ball, so I don’t know why they do it but that’s the powers that be.

“And to be fair the wickets are flatter because of the summer we had and the outfields are lightning fast so that comes into it. I don’t see the point in using it, but it is what it is.

“They’re trying to get ready for an Ashes which is a pretty important thing for England cricket but for me you’ve just got to put up with it and find a way through it.”

Quotes courtesy of Fred Atkins