Dukes balls criticised ahead of New Zealand’s three-test series versus England – Stuff

Tertius Pickard/AP

England's Stuart Broad is worried about the quality of the Dukes balls ahead of the test series against New Zealand.

New balls, please.

Thats the plea from Englands test cricket bowlers and not tennis players at Roland Garros ahead of the three-test series against New Zealand starting next week.

Veteran England pace bowler Stuart Broad said the current crop of Dukes ball used in the County Championship so far this season have been like bowling with a rolled up piece of Plasticine.

1 NEWS

Needless to say, there's plenty of excitement - and questions - about the former Black Caps captain's new role.

The manufacturers of the brand of balls used for tests in England admitted they will be hand-picking and testing a new batch before the series starts at Lords on June 2, The Times reported.

County bowlers have complained that the balls have been going soft and needing premature replacement, with batters dominating matches, before a new batch were issued for the most recent round of the championship.

They have not swung and because they are going soft very quickly, neither is there any bounce, Broad wrote in his Mail on Sunday column. Things have been so bad that we have had to change the ball two or three times every innings.

It has felt like bowling with a rolled-up piece of Plasticine and the balls are that soft you feel like you can squeeze them even before you have bowled a ball with them. In the first innings against Derbyshire this week, the ball went out of shape after 3.3 overs and was changed after eight.

The rest is here:

Dukes balls criticised ahead of New Zealand's three-test series versus England - Stuff