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white and red cricket balls?

deira

Banned
why dont they ever use white cricket balls in test matches and how come they have stopped using red cricket balls in oneday games?
 

PhoenixFire

International Coach
why dont they ever use white cricket balls in test matches and how come they have stopped using red cricket balls in oneday games?
Because white wouldn't go with players whites, plus it's pointless changing it from a red ball.

Firstly, in day/night ODIs people couldn't see the red ball, so they used a white one. That's why they changed the clothes colour so you didn't lose the white ball.
 

jeevan

International 12th Man
How does the color affect swing so much? (airflow and shape/condition dependent primarily I though). Especially how do the balls age differently in shape/softness?

Are the leather qualities different? The inner core ought to be the same or??

Someone (Collingwood?) had said that going to ODIs from tests that the Indian team would suffer from change of ball. I thought (being a layperson) it was exaggerated, but it almost seemed true when the series got under way.
 

jammay123

State 12th Man
i think the white ball has a different laquer round the ball which makes it swing more at the start but the white ball loses clolour quicker which is why their is a mandatory ball change after 35 overs
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
i think the white ball has a different laquer round the ball which makes it swing more at the start but the white ball loses clolour quicker which is why their is a mandatory ball change after 35 overs
The manufactuers claim its the exact same ball but painted white. However, players do notice a difference and you are correct in that (according to players) there is a slight difference in terms of swing.
 

jeevan

International 12th Man
The manufactuers claim its the exact same ball but painted white. However, players do notice a difference and you are correct in that (according to players) there is a slight difference in terms of swing.
Many types of lacquers ofcourse, but I thought you could take any laquer base and add various pigments to it to get different colors. Smoothness and durability of the surface finish should come from the lacquer and not the color pigment. Quite possible that there is no pigment for a particular color that mixes well with a particular lacquer.

Exactly first part of my confusion, if the manufacturers say that the ball is the same except for color, they are perhaps saying they used the exact same lacquer but a different pigment. If so, this is not easy to explain the difference reported on the field.

If the white pigment however required a different lacquer base (possible), then it is not quite the same ball on the surface.

The second part of my confusion is on the shape & softness aging differently (if true). The lacquer should have nothing to do with this, just the core, the leather and the seam (thread and stitch).

I would've thought that red balls made by different manufacturers would vary more than the white versus red from the same manufacturer.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
I would've thought that red balls made by different manufacturers would vary more than the white versus red from the same manufacturer.
Correct - and it does: witness the difference between the Duke and Kookaburra balls used in England and Australia.
 

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