Experimentation with Kookaburra Cricket Balls Faces Uncertain Future

For now, though, the future of this Kookaburra cricket ball experiment in the County Championship remains up in the air. Whether it survives that fate rests on a meeting of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s professional game committee (PGC) on November 5. The issue of Kookaburra balls will again be rattling around at this MOU meeting. We’ve been experimenting with them in recent seasons to get players accustomed to conditions often found down here in Australia.

Kookaburra cricket balls are used predominantly in international Test matches, most notably in Australia. Kookaburra balls are machine-stitched, unlike traditional Dukes balls, which are hand stitched, resulting in significant variances in performance and wear. Kookaburra Test match balls have been used in the County Championship too. The move follows a high-performance review, headed by Andrew Strauss, aimed at improving players’ readiness for conditions abroad.

In 2023, Kookaburra balls were used in two rounds of County Championship games. The experiment grew in 2024 and 2025, enabling four complete rounds of play with these balls. During the Kookaburra matches, teams made hundreds more runs. The average first-innings total increased to 430 over the Championship. Through these rounds, 59 different individual scores had a perfect 100 already. This really shows the massive impact the ball is having on batting performances.

Surrey responded with an extraordinary team performance, declaring at 820 for 9! The incredible accomplishment took place during a Kookaburra match in opposition to Durham. Such high-scoring games have sparked discussions about the effectiveness and suitability of the Kookaburra ball compared to its Dukes counterpart.

As the PGC convenes, stakeholders within the cricket community await insights on whether this experiment will continue or be scrapped. The Dukes ball is famous for its hand-stitched quality. I know that it has the record as the top first-class cricket in England and Wales for several years running. The push for a transition to Kookaburra balls stems from a desire to better equip players for international competition.