Dukes ball manufacturer to conduct an internal investigation regarding the change of ball incident during the fifth Ashes test

It is being speculated that the ball picked up as a replacement was from the 2018-19 batch of Dukes balls

Ashes 2023 might have ended on a good note for England but the controversy surrounding the series hasn’t yet evaporated. In a recent development Australian media has blamed the umpires for selecting the wrong ball as a replacement during the fifth Ashes test at the Oval.

The incident took place when Usman Khawaja was hit on the hamlet by a short ball from Mark Wood and a mandatory concussion test was conducted which led to a change in helmet and the ball as well. This is the point from where the entire controversy erupted.

Before the change of ball England were wicketless as the ball wasn’t doing much either in the air or off the surface. But the moment the ball got changed England found some movement and Australia started losing wickets. Zak Crawly and Usman Khwaja also admitted that the change of ball had an impact on the game.

The Wrong Ball

This is the reason why the Australian media and players are blaming umpires for selecting the wrong ball as like for like replacement. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting who was on air during the incident noticed this and said that it does not look like a like-for-like replacement and is deemed for an investigation into the matter.

Former Australian fast bowler Glen McGrath tweeted about the same. He said, “Isn’t it supposed to be like for like when you change the ball? Must have been a small sample size in the box yesterday”.

Internal Investigation

Reacting to the controversy owner of the Dukes cricket ball Dilip Jajodia said “Every ball we produce for the specific season has got a date stamp on it. It would have 2023 marked on it. “We supply balls to the ground.

These balls are not controlled by the ECB or the ICC, it’s controlled by the ground authority. So on this particular occasion (at The Kia Oval) the balls would be done by Surrey “Surrey get the supply of balls from us before the season starts and then they start knocking them in, getting them into wear and tear if you like and in my view, they’re probably not doing it that accurately.”