Lesser-spotted Kookaburra heralds change to Championship temper music

Surrey 70 for 4 path Lancashire 274 (Salt 56, Clark 4-47, Abbott 4-71) by 204 runs

The BBC’s radio protection from The Oval began with birdsong. After the primary eight rounds of the LV= Insurance County Championship season have been performed with the Dukes ball, Sunday heralded the arrival of the Kookaburra.

The thought behind its introduction for these two rounds was easy: England’s Test staff have struggled to take wickets away from residence, significantly in Australia. The use of a Kookaburra ball within the Championship was mooted by Andrew Strauss’ High Performance Review final summer season, with the ambition of selling English spinners, and seamers with “extreme skill”.

“The Dukes ball has a reputation for more movement for more overs, compared to the Kookaburra ball which is used in many other countries,” the assessment mentioned. “This extra movement may also limit the need for extreme skill development of seam bowlers, but also limit opportunities for spinners due to the success of seamers domestically.”

The id of the bowlers who took wickets on the opening day of Surrey’s fixture in opposition to Lancashire didn’t essentially sq. with the assessment’s ambitions. Of the 14 wickets to fall – which might likely have been extra with a extra pronounced seam on the ball – solely three have been taken by bowlers beneath the age of 30: one every for Sam Curran, returning to first-class cricket after an absence of just about a yr, Tom Lawes and Jack Blatherwick.

There have been solely three overs of spin, from which Will Jacks conceded 25 runs. “Take him off!” shouted a Surrey supporter within the JM Finn Stand. “Leave him on!” replied a travelling Lancashire fan. But Jacks will likely play a job within the second innings, as will Jack Morley – Lancashire’s 22-year-old left-arm spinner, most popular to Tom Hartley to play his first Championship recreation of the season.

“If you compare it to the Duke, it’s probably a little bit more consistent in terms of swing up top, and then today it probably went a little bit softer than what I’m used to back home. I would have liked to have come over here and bowled with the Duke every game,” Abbott joked.

“As long as there’s a vision towards exposing younger players to different conditions, I think that can only be a win [for English cricket]. Obviously the hard job at international level is winning games away. If this helps young English bowlers, then I think that can only be an advantage and a plus.”

After Curran had Luke Wells poking to slide, Abbott struck together with his first ball, pinning Josh Bohannon lbw. His nip-backer accounted for Keaton Jennings, coming back from a hamstring lay-off, and he discovered some additional bounce from a size to have Dane Vilas caught at second slip after a counterattacking stand with Daryl Mitchell.

In response, Will Williams – one other expert practitioner with the Kookaburra from his days within the Plunket Shield – eliminated Surrey’s openers, earlier than Tom Bailey had Tom Latham driving to second slip. Surrey recovered however Blatherwick, who had Jamie Smith dropped at slip by Mitchell, induced a drag-on from Ben Foakes within the last over of the day.

Lancashire are broadly supportive of the trial, and Salt mentioned that Abbott – and his compatriot Daniel Worrall – had offered a template for Lancashire’s bowlers to observe, usually hitting a great size and utilizing the crease to create totally different angles. “I like it. It’s just a bit different – it keeps things fresh,” he mentioned.

“It wasn’t too different – maybe that’s down to the fact there was a little bit more grass left on than we’d normally have playing here. It did go a bit soft at times. I don’t think it stayed as hard for as long as the Dukes does but that brings different challenges into the game.” Music to the ears of the ball’s proponents, then.

But the introduction of the Kookaburra has not been universally widespread throughout the nation and the crux of the controversy is acquainted: does the Championship exist primarily to arrange gamers for England’s Test staff, or as a sporting competitors in its personal proper? The 4000 followers basking within the south London sunshine on Sunday would lean in the direction of the latter, although the reality in all probability lies someplace in between the 2.

The Championship is a loss-making enterprise sustained by earnings from the ECB; most of that earnings is due to a profitable broadcast deal underpinned by Test cricket, which itself depends on the Championship for a manufacturing line of gamers. “They are the ultimate odd couple,” Rob Key wrote in an autobiography revealed earlier than he grew to become England’s managing director. “Worlds apart, but unable to get divorced because they are so utterly reliant on each other.”

The long-term intention of the pilot is to know what impression the Kookaburra may have on the Championship as a complete which, in line with the assessment, “will then inform whether to implement a longer-term change within domestic cricket.” It is just too quickly to attract any conclusions – however a compelling first day suggests there’s cause to be chirpy.