The maker of Dukes balls has entered the debate on the trial use of the Kookaburra ball in county cricket and invited Rob Key, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director of men’s cricket, to talk to him about the type of ball he wants to see. Dilip Jajodia, the managing director of British Cricket Balls Ltd which has owned the Dukes imprint since 1987, was responding to a story in the Guardian this week in which Key hailed the trial use of the Kookaburra in the County Championship and called for it to be used permanently. “I can’t speak for the inner thoughts of Rob Key,” said Jajodia.
Have you been paying attention to the big stories in football, athletics, cricket, basketball, snooker and golf?
Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has stressed that Yorkshire initially missing out on the revamp of the professional women’s game is not a case of the club being “punished for past sins”. From next year the current eight-team regional women’s system will switch to 15-strong full-time squads run directly by eight counties. Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and Surrey were those selected this week, before an expansion to 10 counties by 2027 and up to 12 by 2029.