ECB ends Kookaburra ball experiment in County Championship

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to end the use of Kookaburra balls in the County Championship from the 2026 season, following feedback from county directors and the professional game committee.

The trial, introduced three years ago to help county cricketers develop skills suited to international conditions, has been deemed unsuccessful after it led to largely uneventful matches. This season's fixture between Surrey and Durham at The Oval, where the hosts piled up 820 for 9 declared, became a case in point.

The Kookaburra ball was first used for two rounds of matches in the 2023 season, with its use extended to four rounds each in 2024 and 2025. However, after directors of cricket from all 18 first-class counties expressed their wish to discontinue the experiment during discussions in October, the ECB's professional game committee formally ratified the decision earlier this week.

As a result, all 14 rounds of the 2026 County Championship will once again be played exclusively with the traditional hand-stitched Dukes ball as opposed to the machine-made Kookaburra.