Sydney, Oct 24(ANI): Leading sports good manufacturer Kookaburra has said its more than a century of cricket history in Australia is under threat of vanishing under a plan to introduce imported balls in domestic matches.
In its bid to win back the Ashes, Cricket Australia (CA) is hoping to rob England of a competitive advantage by replacing Melbourne-made Kookaburra balls with the Dukes ball in some matches.
Kookaburra director Rob Elliot warned of calamitous consequences if the company's support from the domestic Sheffield Shield to grassroots collapsed.
"If we are not supported by cricket in Australia then Kookaburra won't exist basically. If Cricket Australia and if cricket's not supporting Kookaburra and wants to go down the imported path, then the manufacturing of cricket balls will go to the subcontinent and it will be the end of Kookaburra as we know it," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Elliot, as saying.
The Dukes cricket ball is used in Test matches in England and behaves differently to the Australian-made variety.
Elliot said he understood why CA was introducing the Dukes ball in preparation for Tests against England, but questioned CA's decision to trial the UK ball in under-age championships and some second XI matches this summer.
"I see that as counterproductive. I thought it would be appropriate for us to be using the only Australian made ball as opposed to a ball that's made in the sub-continent in Pakistan or India," Elliot said.
"That's the thing that concerns me is that all of a sudden this sort of thing erodes Australian manufacturing and Australian jobs," he added. (ANI)
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