England Great's Brutal Jibe At Bowlers Amid Criticism Of Dukes Ball: "Moaning..."

The Dukes ball has copped plenty of criticism from the players in the ongoing India-England Test series. In fact, the Dukes ball has been in the eye of a storm since 2020 as it has been going out of shape and soft earlier than expected. It has also become a major talking point in the five-match Test rubber. The bowlers, especially in the Indian camp, have complained multiple times about the Dukes ball becoming soft, often requesting for a replacement. However, former England captain Alastair Cook took a jibe at the bowlers while addressing the issue. 

"I just love how bowlers are always moaning. It's like they bowl a bad ball and it's never their fault. They've scraped the footmark... If they bowl a bad ball, they look at the ball and blame the shape," Cook replied, while speaking on BBC Sport.

Cook then quickly changed the perspective and explained how even the batters don't like to face the soft and out-of-shape balls.

"I think a batsman would much rather hit some slightly harder ball. Nothing worse than playing a lovely cover drive like I used to and it going nowhere," he added.

Last week, former England pacer Stuart Broad, who has been a critic of the balls used in England since 2020, said that the replacement ball looked like it was 18-20 overs old.

"We are having to talk about the ball too much because it is such an issue & being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable. Feels like it's been five years now. Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it. A ball should last 80 overs. Not 10."

The Dukes was changed twice in the morning session on day three of the Lord's Test here. After getting a 10-over ball changed, the Indian players remained extremely unhappy leading to another change in a matter of minutes.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Alastair Cook England vs India, 2025 Cricket