Dukes cricket ball shortage warning as Middle East war hits supply

Dukes balls are made from hides of Aberdeen Angus cows and tanned in Chesterfield, before being flown to south Asia to be stitched. Photo / Photosport

Cricket could be the latest victim of the war in the Middle East, according to the owner of Dukes, who has warned of a shortage of balls.

Dukes, which dates back to 1760, supplies all the red balls for test and first-class cricket in England, with the new English season starting on April 3. For this, it produces between 4000 and 5000 balls each summer.

But Dilip Jajodia, the octogenarian ball of energy who bought Dukes almost 40 years ago, has said he is having to ration the number of balls he gives each team because of supply-chain issues caused by the US/Israeli assault on Iran.

Before a bowler clutches a new Dukes ball and sends it down at a batsman, it has already lived an itinerant life. Jajodia uses hides from Aberdeen Angus cows reared in Scotland, which go through a tanning process in Chesterfield. They are then sent to South Asia to be stitched into a cricket ball, before returning to his factory in Walthamstow to be distributed.

This process inevitably includes them travelling through the Gulf, with spiralling costs and fewer flights since the war began earlier this month. The process of making Dukes balls has previously been hit by issues beyond Dukes’ control, such as Covid-19 and Brexit.

“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% 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 US$5 ($8.55) a kilo. The last quote I got was US$15 ($25.65) 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.

“I heard the other day somebody flew something from Pakistan to Sri Lanka, which is another route out. Human beings will find ways. It might well be very expensive, but you’ve got to find a way to do it. Eventually, the couriers might have to charter flights.”

While there have been some issues with players complaining about the quality of Dukes’ product in recent years – since the pandemic – they are still considered the premier ball on the market, especially in English conditions.

This winter, a short-lived experiment using the Kookaburra ball for a few rounds of the County Championship was ditched, meaning Dukes has reclaimed its red-ball monopoly.

The England and Wales Cricket Board moved to quell fears that the season could be disrupted. A spokesperson said: “The professional county clubs have received the number of Dukes balls that they normally would before the season.”