The controversy surrounding the Dukes ball quality in the ongoing third Test between England and India, being played at the Lord’s, has been getting flamed just as it seems to die.
From Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, and Indian bowlers, to England’s Jofra Archer, all have had their share of arguments with the umpire regarding the condition of the balls.
On day two, it was Shubman Gill and Indian pacers against the umpires when the ball went out of shape, and then the replacement ball also was disfigured after bowling 10 overs.
Tensions erupted on Saturday during the third Test, when Jofra Archer voiced evident irritation with the state of the Dukes ball, adding fuel to an already smoldering dispute.
The occasion came in the 46th over of India's second innings, when Archer questioned the ball's shape following a short delivery to Rahul. Though the ball passed the standard ring gauge test, Archer was clearly unimpressed, shaking his head as play continued.
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On Day 3 at Lord's, action came to a halt once more as England sought a ball change mid-session. The timing of the request was unusual, given that drinks had already been ordered moments before. The umpires then took a more than seven-minute stoppage to go through the substitutes box before delivering the fresh ball to Chris Woakes.
Ian Ward, who was on-air during the ball change, voiced disappointment with the umpires' timing. He questioned why the process hadn't started during the drinks break, pointing out that addressing it right after the planned intermission was wasting crucial playing time.
“Here we go again. Another ball change. I've to say, this is ridiculous. If they decide to change the ball, why was that not decided at the start of the drinks break? We waited for the entirety of the drinks break. They should be playing again now. Now they are going through the entire procedure. This process could've started right at the start of the drinks break,” Ward said.
Ravi Shastri stated that he assumes that the umpires forgot to check the ball in use and remembered about it later. The video on the screen showed that several of the replacement balls failed to go through the ring as well, and Shastri questioned why these balls were in the box.
“I couldn't agree more. It's common sense, it's basic. It's hard to explain, really hard to explain. The case is, did they forget to check the ball, because what's quite amazing there is that they checked five balls there, and five balls didn't go through the ring. So why are they in the box in the first place,” Shastri said on commentary on Sky Cricket.
