'Rockets flying around': Middle East war leaves England cricket short of Dukes balls
The upcoming English domestic cricket season is facing uncertainty over the supply of match balls, with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East affecting logistics, Daily Mail reported. Dukes, a manufacturer that has been in operation since 1760, supplies red balls for Test and first-class cricket in England. Around 4,000 to 5,000 balls are produced for each summer season, which begins on April 3.
Dilip Jajodia, who has owned the company for nearly four decades, said supply-chain disruptions linked to the conflict have forced the company to limit distribution to counties at the start of the season. English counties are set to begin the domestic campaign with only half the number of balls they usually require, as delays in transport have affected deliveries. "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. " Dukes balls are made using leather sourced from British cows and processed in Chesterfield. The material is then sent to South Asia for stitching before being shipped back to the United Kingdom.
The return leg of this process has been affected, leading to shortages. "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 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," Jajodia was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.