The ECB has quietly moved on from the white Kookaburra ball that drew so much side-eye during last year’s Hundred, swapping it for the same stock used in the Vitality Blast. Players had complained that the old ball’s large ‘H’ logo needed extra lacquer, felt “plasticky” and, they argued, helped the seam bite.
Scoring was certainly down. In 2024, men’s sides managed 1.37 runs per ball, well shy of other short-form tournaments such as the IPL or SA20. New-ball specialists – Daniel Worrall, Tim Southee and the like – enjoyed themselves; top-order batters rather less so. As Moeen Ali put it, “The seam seems to be massive… Every game, it seems the ball is nipping. Most teams are 30 for 5 in most games.”
Over the winter the ECB commissioned a decent-sized study. Lab tests, ball-tracking data and a stack of match footage found only marginal differences between the Hundred ball and the standard county white ball. Analysts said the extra movement owed more to early-innings tactics (15 of the first 20 deliveries can be bowled by the same pair), spicy UK pitches and a damp summer than to any coating or seam tweak.
Even so, perception matters. Senior players kept pushing; coaches backed them. With a fresh batch already in the warehouse for the T20 Blast, switching suppliers would have been an unnecessary headache, so the ECB simply reverted to that batch for both men’s and women’s Hundred competitions in 2025. The governing body hopes the change will nudge scoring upwards and, just as importantly, cut the chatter about faulty kit.
Early evidence is inconclusive. Tuesday’s opener at Lord’s – London Spirit skittled for 80 by Oval Invincibles – suggested runs still have to be earned on a two-paced deck. Rashid Khan, who bagged 3 for 11, was hardly complaining. “It was a tough wicket to bat on,” he said, shrugging in that familiar way.
Will a different ball lift totals? Probably a bit; it certainly won’t on its own turn the Hundred into the Big Bash. But batters are likely to feel they have one less thing working against them, and in a short competition confidence can be worth as much as any structural tweak.
