All about the cricket ball

Weight

For professional men’s cricket, a ball should weigh between 5 1/2 ounces/155.9g to 5 3/4 ounces/163g. The circumference should be between 8 13/16 inches/22.4cm to 9 inches/22.9cm.

For women’s cricket the weight of the ball should be from 4 15/16 ounces/140g to 5 5/16 ounces /151g. The cricket ball should measure from 8 1/4 inches/21.0cm to 8 7/8 inches/22.5cm in circumference. This means that the ball used is slightly smaller in size than men’s cricket.

For youth cricket the ball should weigh from 4 11/16 ounces/133g to 5 1/16 ounces/144g and should measure from 8 1/16 inches/20.5cm to 8 11/16 inches/22.0cm in circumference.


Make up

The cricket ball is made of two halves of cork. The cork is binded by a thick wound of strings. A layer of leather then covers the cork. The layer is divided into four quartered peels of leather, which covers the round ball from all the sides. One hemisphere covers the ball in a 90-degree angle in respect to the other. This cover is then sewn to form a seam that is tied at the equator of the ball. There are in all six rows of stitches. The remaining two joins between the leather pieces are left unstitched.

Red and white

There are two types of cricket balls. One, which is dyed red and the other one is white. The red cricket ball is used in Test as well as first class cricket, whereas the white cricket ball is used in the one-day format of the game. The red ball is also referred to as ‘cherry’.

But there has been a debate over whether both red and white cricket balls are the same when it comes to bowling?

The answer to this may be no. Many veteran players believe that the white cricket ball has more swing and impact than the red ball. Both the balls are made in the same manner as the first ball was made in the 1700s. The balls are made up of the same cork and then leather is put on. But there is just a slight difference between both the balls. The white ball has a harder-wearing coating to stop them getting dirty.

But the manufacturers deny these claims. They say that there is no difference between the two balls and proper remedies are taken to see that the characteristics of the ball remain the same.

The other colours

After the white ball was finalised for limited-over matches, other colours like orange and yellow were also tried and tested. But white proved to be more effective under the floodlights.

Besides the leather ball, there are other balls that are used to play cricket. The local Pakistani bowlers used the ‘taped ball’. In this case a tennis ball is wrapped with electrical insulation tape to harness some hardness in the ball while retaining the softness.

The Laws

The balls that are chosen by umpires and the captains of both the teams will remain in umpires’ possession before the toss and will be under umpire’s control throughout the match.

The umpire will have the ball in his possession after a fall of a wicket, or at the time of drinks break or during the interruption of the play under any circumstances.

Either captain has the right to demand a new ball at the start of an innings. In Test cricket the red cherry can only be changed after the prescribed minimum (80) overs. Other than this the ball can be changed only under a few circumstances-

If the ball has become unfit to play

During a match the umpires can consider the ball as unfit for play because of normal wear and tear. The ball would then be replaced with another one that has had similar wear. This replacement would be informed to the batsmen and the fielding captain.

If the ball is lost

If during play the ball is lost and is not recovered, it will be replaced with another one which is similar in condition to the one lost.

Ball tampering


The condition of the ball is very crucial in the game of cricket. And any infringement to the ball can vary the results of the game by huge margins. So to avoid these defections, ICC has formulated certain laws. These laws are:

A player cannot rub any substance apart from sweat and saliva on the ball. These two substances are used only under the pretext of them bieng natural substances.

A player is not allowed to rub the ball on the ground under any circumstances. The umpires may however, wipe the ball with a piece of cloth in exceptional cases of ball getting wet and slippery due to dew or any other reason.

A player cannot scratch the surface of the ball with any rough object.

LAW 42.3c of ICC rule book states that it is unfair for anyone to rub the ball on the ground for any reason, interfere with any of the seams or the surface of the ball, use any implement, or take any other action whatsoever which is likely to alter the condition of the ball.

The mishappenings

Despite these strict measures to prevent ball tampering, the ball has been mistakenly as well as unmistakenly used in the foul sense of the game.

In 1994, former England captain Mike Atherton was blamed of ball tampering. The very ‘infamous’ incident of ‘dirt in the pocket’ became a blot in English cricket history.

Mike Atherton was seen in the TV footage rubbing some material on the ball. After the over when the umpires took the ball, they also discovered that the condition of the ball was tampered with. After the match, Match Referee asked Mike Atherton on whether he tampered the ball or not, Mike simply denied the incident. But when television footages were shown to him, he was left searching for words. Mike then admitted that he had applied dirt kept in his pocket to avoid the ball from slipping from his hand.

In the year 2000, Waqar Younis was penalised for tampering the ball. He became the first cricket player to be banned from playing by Match Referee John Ried. He was also fined 50% of the match fee.

The underarm bowling

Trevor Chappell of Australia on 1st February 1981 in a one-day match between Australia and New Zealand at Melbourne bowled an underarm delivery. Trevor was given the instructions by captain Greg Chappell to bowl underarm on the last ball to prevent New Zealand`s tail ender, Brian McKechnie, from hitting a six that would have given New Zealand victory.

Australia won the game but the New Zealand batsmen marched off in disgust. As a direct result of the incident, underarm bowling was banned in limited overs cricket by the International Cricket Council as not within the spirit of the game.

The Manufacturers

In India, Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) are the main manufacturers of cricket balls. They came to India at the time of partition and made their way into Meerut. And since then Sanspareils Greenlands is the brand name that identifies cricket in India.

Even in this age of technology, the ball is made in the traditional way. In India, it takes almost 75 days to make a ball that lasts for a day in Test cricket.

The core of the cricket ball is a cork-rubber and is grey brown in colour. Cork-rubber is then covered with flat strips of cork. Then a wet wool string is wrapped around the cork mixture tightly and more and more layers are wrapped around the core. A wooden bowl is then used to put the core in it, which is moulded into a sphere though a hammer. The mass of cork is then hung on the wall for drying and establishing bounce.

The leather after being checked for its quality is dyed and then cut into oval but pointy-ended parts on a wooden board. Then these oval shaped parts are joined with needles through the borders thereby creating a half ball.

This half ball is then battered in thappai- a machine shaped like a head-clamp instrument to give definite shape. The remaining part of the ball is then covered with steel cups and leather slices and sewn.

But this form of making cricket balls is dying with time. The technological advances of other manufacturers around the world are threatening to conquer this hand made miracle. The latest being BCCI opting for Kookaburra balls for Tests.

Kookaburra Sport

Kookaburra is the most famous manufacturer of cricket equipments in the world. The company was instituted in Australia and established itself in almost all the Test playing nations which also include India and Pakistan.

The history of Kookaburra goes back to 1890s when a migrant, harness and saddle maker, Alfred Grace Thompson turned into making cricket balls. His next generations then helped Kookaburra establish worldwide which now specialises in other equipments of cricket and also hockey.

This is how a Kookaburra ball is made

The inner cores of the ball are made out of cork and granulated rubber; they are mixed into fine pieces and further moulded. The smaller the nucleus, the more expensive and the higher the quality of the ball is.

There are two basic types of cricket ball: a two-piece ball and a four-piece ball. The four piece ball is used since cricket came into being. Here the covers are formed with four quarters of leather which are stitched together to form the seam of the ball.

The two piece ball came much later; it is made up of a disc of leather which is forced into shape with a press. The quarters are then stitched up with the same old tool called hand. In Australia, the seam of the ball is made differently than other countries like India and England. Here a system of machine stitching is used whereas in countries like England the seam is made with hands.

In the machine stitching system, the covers are first stitched into two rows. This process does not hamper the structure of the ball, but it is done to influence the way, the game is played. Finally, the ball is stitched together to form the exposed seam.

Kookaburra is in many ways different from other cricket manufacturers. It uses machines to save precious time in making the balls.

Ball gauge

A ball gauge is used by umpires to measure the size of the ball. Through ball gauge, the umpires see whether optimum measurements mandated by the governing body are followed or not.

The ball gauge looks like handcuffs. There are two rings connected to each other, one has a diameter through which the ball should not pass. The other is the maximum acceptable diameter through which the ball should pass.

If the ball does not pass through the maximum diameter and passes through the minimum diameter, the ball is deemed to have lost its perfect shape. Umpires should then replace the ball with an old ball that has been used in the comparable number of overs earlier.