The Dukes ball was used for the last two seasons in domestic first-class cricket • Getty Images
The PCB has decided to reintroduce Kookaburra balls in 's first-class cricket system from the 2026-27 domestic season. This will mark a shift from the usage of Dukes balls in their domestic first-class competitions - the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the President's Trophy.The Dukes ball was used for the last two seasons. The PCB now feels that reverting to Kookaburra balls will be beneficial in bridging the gap between first-class and Test cricket. The decision, Cricinfo understands, is also influenced by first-class games tilting towards bowlers on surfaces that had grass and moisture.The Dukes ball, with its hard and pronounced seam, provides lateral movement to seam bowlers both in the air and off the surface for longer periods of time compared to the Kookaburra. With the Dukes providing assistance to fast bowlers, there have also been concerns that the seamers were not developing to their full potential in first-class cricket, which hampered their development in the step-up to international cricket.With the majority of the first-class cricket this season to be played in the northern part of the country - Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Abbottabad - where conditions are more suited to seam bowling, the PCB is hoping switching back to Kookaburra will help strike a balance between bat and ball. The decision-makers would also like to give batters more time the crease, which will improve their techniques. Spinners, therefore, could also have a bigger role in domestic first-class games.The PCB had used Kookaburra balls in domestic first-class cricket from 2019 until the end of the 2023-24 season. The Dukes, which had previously been used in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, were brought back for the 2024-25 season as Pakistan looked to revive the country's fast-bowling culture. The change coincided with the appointment of Jason Gillespie as Pakistan's red-ball head coach.That season, Pakistan also hosted Bangladesh for two Tests in Rawalpindi on grassy pitches, as they looked to play to the perceived strength of their fast bowlers. The approach, however, backfired as Pakistan lost the series 2-0 - the first time they had lost either a Test or a Test series to Bangladesh.A defeat to England in the first Test of the following series in Multan brought a radical shift in Pakistan's philosophy as they moved towards producing square-turners and have since hosted Tests and limited-overs cricket on pitches that assist spinners massively.Pakistan's first-class season begins on Saturday, with the first round of the President's Trophy.
Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore
