The balls used in the initial four years of the competition had a large ‘H’ logo imprinted on them.
The England Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to discontinue the debatable Kookaburra balls in The Hundred, which were deemed a reason for low scores. The balls used in the initial four years of the competition had a large ‘H’ logo imprinted on them, which batters felt required more lacquer.
AUSA-W
137/6
INDA-W
124/5
KNK
–
AMR
–
PD
186/6
WDL
171/8
Purani Delhi 6 won by 15 runs
CDK
–
SDS
–
EDR
–
ODW
–
NDT
–
PD
–
CRO
155/6
CYP
213/3
Cyprus beat Croatia by 58 runs
CRO
132/10
CYP
–
CRO
–
CYP
–
CRO
–
CYP
–
ESM
123/0
LCC
122/7
East Molesey beat London County Cricket by 10 wickets
KSP
106/9
SPE
136/3
Spencer beat Kreative Sports XI by 30 runs
BAN
32/3
CPP
–
WIM
–
WEY
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
SUSS
–
KENT
228/6
GLAM
–
DER
–
NOT
–
WOR
213/3
HAM
–
ESS
273/6
NOR
–
YOR
–
SURR
–
GLO
–
SOM
–
DURH
–
SWE
–
FRA
–
MATCH CANCELLED
91YC
165/7
NVR
149/10
91 Yards Club beat Navarang Club by 16 runs
NAJC
99/7
GTC
156/7
Gauhati Town Club beat Nabajyoti Club by 14 runs (D/L) method
GTC
–
91YC
–
NVR
–
BCC
–
BCC
–
GUJCC
–
KRMPS
–
KZK
–
KRMPS
–
CEC-A
–
SEL
–
PRK
–
JOR
–
PENG
–
MEL
–
KLPR
–
BBW
–
HTW
–
Match Abandoned due to rain
MWW
98/2
MDW
97/5
Mysore Warriors Women beat Mangalore Dragons Women by 8 wickets
BBW
–
MWW
–
MDW
–
SHLW
–
EAE
–
PMW
–
PAJ
–
NPB
–
ZIM
125/10
NZ
127/0
IRE-W
–
PAK-W
–
WI
–
PAK
–
SLBL
143/10
SLGR
144/6
SLC Greens beat SLC Blues by 4 wickets
SLGY
–
SLBL
–
NOS
–
WEF
–
BIP
–
TRR
–
NOS-W
–
WFW-W
–
BIP-W
–
TRW-W
–
AUST
92/6
NOR
87/10
Austria beat Norway by 4 wickets
SWE
–
FRA
–
FRA
–
NOR
–
SWE
–
AUST
–
Players felt the ball was moving excessively, especially when new, which meant the teams couldn’t utilise the field restrictions in the powerplay. For instance, Moeen Ali pointed out a relatively bigger seam on the batch of balls used last season, citing it was one of the reasons why the ball nipped around more often.
Kookaburra claimed the balls were made with the same specifications as other balls of the brand, with the logo being the only difference. According to ESPNcricinfo, the ECB conducted an extensive study to understand whether there were any excessive changes in this special batch of balls, but found minimal evidence about a difference in behaviour compared to other white balls used in England and Wales.
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Still, the ECB has decided not to use these balls and opted for the ones used in the T20 Blast 2025, which are the usual Kookaburra balls used everywhere. They hope it will increase the scoring rate, and games will become more high-scoring than they have historically been.
Maybe the balls with an ‘H’ logo have favoured bowlers more than usual, but they are not the only reason why scoring rates have consistently been low. There are other factors, like the pitch, weather conditions, and the tournament’s format, which can often favour bowlers.
The Hundred is often played in late summer when the pitches are mostly tired due to the County Championship and other white-ball competitions in the 50-over and T20 format. Then, the weather and evening matches naturally generate more movement in the air, making the powerplay bowlers more potent.
The format allows a bowler to bowl ten consecutive deliveries, and teams often frontload their powerplay specialists by giving them 15 out of the first 20 balls during the field restrictions. Oval Invincibles employed this tactic last night by providing an extended spell to Jason Behrendorff, who picked up two wickets inside the powerplay.
The batch of balls in the T20 Blast 2025 was used in the opening fixture of The Hundred 2025 at Lord’s, but the game was still low-scoring, as the London Spirit failed to get going and couldn’t even last 100 deliveries. So, the balls can’t be completely blamed; several other factors have contributed to batters’ issues in this tournament.
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