Counties confirm closure of Kookaburra ball trials after being used in selected rounds of the County Championship.
Counties confirm decision to bin Kookaburra ball trial.
After three seasons, the contentious trial that saw the Kookaburra ball used in some County Championship rounds was abandoned.
Three years ago, as part of Andrew Strauss’ high-performance review, the ECB first suggested the trial in the hopes that employing the Kookaburra ball instead of the Dukes would promote the growth of bowlers and spinners with “extreme skills”. County coaches criticised the pilot, which at first lasted two rounds of games in the 2023 season.
Rob Key, the general director of men’s cricket at the ECB, persuaded the counties to extend the trial to four rounds for the 2024 season because he was a fervent supporter of the Kookaburra ball. Alec Stewart of Surrey called that “the worst decision ever,” but Key reiterated that it had resulted in “some bloody good cricket” after 17 of the first 18 matches ended in draws.
In 2025, the Kookaburra was used for four more rounds, although it once again resulted in a high percentage of draws, as demonstrated by Surrey’s club-record 820 for 9 against Durham at The Oval.
The decision to switch back to using the Dukes ball for the entire 2026 season was confirmed earlier this week at a meeting of the Cricket Advisory Group, a subcommittee of the ECB Professional Game Committee, after directors of cricket from the 18 counties made it clear at a meeting last month that they wanted to abandon the trial.
In recent years, Key and the ECB have become less involved in county cricket, and earlier this summer, they deliberately left the clubs to negotiate suggested fixture changes. The counties agreed on a minor reduction in the number of T20 Blast matches for 2026, but they were unable to reach a consensus about the Championship’s future.