Stokes and Pant express displeasure at Dukes’ ball and its getting out of shape at regular intervals in the games.
Stokes and Pant bemoan quick-to-soften Dukes balls.
It has been annoying to watch the players from India and England continuously approach the umpires in Leeds and Birmingham to request a change of ball. On the eve of the Lord’s Test, Ben Stokes and Rishabh Pant publicly voiced their opinions, with the England captain even raising doubts about the suitability of the ball gauge used to measure the Duke’s ball.
“Whenever we have touring teams visiting, there is an issue with the balls going soft and completely out of shape,” Stokes said ahead of the third Test at Lord’s. “I don’t even think the rings that we use are Dukes rings. It isn’t ideal. But you have to deal with it.”
Umpires use a two-ringed gauge to examine the condition of the ball. For the ball to be considered still in shape, it must go through one ring and not the other. Otherwise, the ball is out of shape and is subject to modification. Nevertheless, bowling teams have frequently been left feeling irritated when umpires have refused to alter the ball even if it has softened and lost its seam.
Pant threw the ball into the ground on the second day of the Leeds Test because he thought it was out of shape and the umpires would not replace it. For an infraction he accepted, the ICC censured Pant and gave him one penalty point.
Pant sarcastically stated that he would keep to the same ball gauge, but the rings may be “smaller” in response to Stokes’ statement today. However, during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the Indian vice-captain noted that it was “irritating” to constantly seeing the Dukes lose their temper so easily.
“I feel it is a big problem because the ball is getting out of shape,” Pant said. “In this series, the ball is getting de-shaped (out of shape) too much. That is something I’ve never seen. It is definitely irritating for the players because every ball plays differently. When it becomes softer, sometimes it doesn’t do too much, but as soon as you change the ball it starts to do something. As a batsman, you keep on adjusting to that, but at the same time, it is not good for cricket overall.”
Stokes expressed similar remarks. “If you feel the ball has gone out of shape, then you check it with the umpire. If it goes through the rings, it goes through the rings, and you crack on. Hopefully, eventually it goes that badly out of shape that you are able to change it. Every bowling team seems to struggle with it, and it seemed a big issue last week at Edgbaston. If it fits through we keep going, if it doesn’t we get a new one.”