English cricket warned over shortage of balls due to conflict in Middle East
Dukes have run into issues with the import of balls with the cricketing summer around the corner
The English cricketing summer could be disrupted by a shortage of balls after supply-chain issues caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Dukes produces between 4,000 and 5,000 balls each summer to supply all red balls for Test and first-class cricket in England. But Dilip Jajodia, the company’s owner, has warned that they have encountered issues in transiting their balls, which are stitched in south Asia before being distributed from his factory in Walthamstow.
“We’ve got a major crisis right now with this bloody Gulf war nonsense,” Jajodia told the Daily Mail . “We’ve got to ration clubs by giving them 50 per cent of their balls at the start of the season, and then manage the problem. “We’ve got plenty of stuff in the factories in the subcontinent ready to go, but the airlines are not taking the freight, because there’s a logjam.
“The rates have gone up, too. A box of 120 cricket balls would be charged normally by airlines at about $5 (£3. 76) a kilo.
The last quote I got was $15 a kilo. Most of the stuff goes through the Middle East, but if you’ve suddenly got rockets flying around, you’ve got a major problem. Dukes have warned of a shortage of balls (Getty Images) “I heard the other day somebody flew something from Pakistan to Sri Lanka, which is another route out.