ECB's Robert Key explains how use of Kookaburra ball in County can help England become top Test team

Be it the introduction of Bazball Cricket or Kookaburra balls in the County Championship, ECB is leaving no stone unturned to ensure England becomes the best Test team in the world. Having already made waves with the ultra-attacking brand of cricket in the longer format, the ECB is now working towards preparing its bowlers for all conditions by making them bowl with Kookaburra and not Duke Balls in the early stages of County Championships.

The use of the Kookaburra ball, dominantly played with during overseas series, was recommended in Sir AndrewStrauss'high-performance review in 2022 and was trialled last year had replaced the traditional Dukes Ball in the first two rounds of the County Championship this season.

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This change saw mixed reactions from the pundits, with some calling this a masterstroke, while others bashing it, calling it the‘worst decision ever’.ECB’sDirector of Cricket, Robert Key, has backed this idea of using the Kookaburra ball to ensure the bowlers, who cannot bowl express pace, must get used to thisball’sdynamics.

Unlike the Dukes that assist seam and swing bowling, a preferred choice in the UK, given the conditions, Key insists that the usage of Kookaburra, which has a less prominent seam and goes softer earlier, will push the bowlers to become creative with their craft and master it by the time they get an international call-up.

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"My view is, the better the conditions for batting, the more you find out about your bowlers," Key said on Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

"Bowlers are soimportantin winning games. Batsmen set up games, and bowlers are the ones that win it."

“Ialso believe that for us to have a great era of English cricket, which everyone in these sorts of jobs wants,it'sabout bowlers and being able to produce - not necessarily 95mph bowlers, butit'sclear that for the best teams,it'ssort of 85mph plus,”he continued.

‘We need to be best in thisformat’

Commenting on the criticism it has received, with former England great Alec Stewart calling it a mistake, Key feels withgreaterrisks come greater rewards.

"Playing against a Kookaburra in England is nothing like playing against it in South Africa or Australia,"Stewart said."The surfaces are different."

"Our point of difference playing here is the Dukes ball, so why are we not playing here, being the best we can be with the Dukes ball so that when the touring sides come over, we hammer them."

Meanwhile, Key said he must find ways to ensure England gets better in Tests, not just at home but outsidetoo.

"My view is that wesort ofthink, in our home conditions, we dominate - whicha lot ofteams do at the moment - but the truth is that England have been amiddlingTest team for 40-plus years.

"Iwant us to go out there and be the best team in the world and havea really goodera... andit'sabout trying to find ways of doing that,”Key concluded.