• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Ecb Removes Kookaburra Balls For Standard Ones Amid Batting Chaos In The Hundred 2025

ECB Removes Kookaburra Balls For Standard Ones Amid Batting Chaos In The Hundred 2025

Jatin

The Hundred 2025 kicked off on August 5 [Source: @RashidKhanRK19, @dealsda/x.com]The Hundred 2025 kicked off on August 5 [Source: @RashidKhanRK19, @dealsda/x.com]

The ECB finally decided to toss the controversial white Kookaburra balls aside after players cried foul all through The Hundred 2024. But even with the fresh batch in play, the runs didn’t exactly come raining down as London Spirit were skittled for just 80 on the opening night of The Hundred Men’s 2025.

ECB Drops Branded Hundred Ball After Seam And Swing Sparked Batting Collapses Across 2024 Season

After weeks of noise from the dressing rooms, the England and Wales Cricket Board quietly pulled the plug on the flashy, logo-heavy Kookaburra balls that had swung and seamed a lot more than usual. Those balls, dressed up with a large ‘H’ logo and an extra coat of lacquer, were accused of providing assistance to the bowlers and leaving batters flailing.

Moeen Ali, speaking to The Cricketer last year, pretty much summed it up:

"The seam seems to be massive. Every game, it seems the ball is nipping. Most teams are 30 for 5 in most games,” said Ali as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Despite Kookaburra defending their product and the ECB’s winter-long data dive suggesting that external factors played a part, players weren’t buying it.

The numbers told their own story as scoring rates in The Hundred dipped to just 1.37 runs per ball in 2024, the lowest across all major short-format leagues. In a format built for fireworks, it felt more like fire drills.

Same Old Story On Opening Night

Hoping to put last season’s drama to bed, the ECB rolled out the standard white balls from the T20 Blast catalogue for The Hundred 2025. The idea? Let the batters breathe a little and bring back the bang-for-your-buck viewing.

But the opening clash between London Spirit and Oval Invincibles suggested it might not be smooth sailing just yet.

London Spirit got bundled out for 80 on a sluggish Oval deck and Rashid Khan, making his debut for the two-time champs, made the most of it. The Afghan wizard weaved his usual magic, bagging 3 for 11.

What Now For The Hundred?

So, while the ECB’s ball switch-up is a step in the right direction, it is clear that the playing surface, weather and bowling tactics still hold plenty of sway. 

It will be interesting to see if the switch to standard balls makes a long-term difference. For now, bowlers are still breathing fire and batters will need to find new ways to fight back.