Ends of Dukes era ?

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is considering bringing an end to the Dukes ball era in domestic first-class cricket, with discussions underway over replacing it with the SG ball in the National Cricket League (NCL).
The proposal, though still at a preliminary stage, could mark another major shift in Bangladesh's domestic structure after four seasons of using the English-made ball.
BCB tournament committee chairman Sirajuddin Md Alamgir confirmed on Thursday that no final decision has been taken, but admitted that the board is seriously discussing a change.
"It is still under preliminary discussion. There is no final decision yet," Alamgir told Daily Sun when asked about the possibility of introducing the SG ball in the four-day competition.
When asked whether the move was being considered with Bangladesh's future Test commitments against the West Indies at home in mind, Alamgir said that the idea had indeed featured in the discussions.
"Yes, there is a plan like that. It is in the preliminary discussion stage," he said.
While stressing that the process is still in its early stages, Alamgir acknowledged that there is growing support within the cricketing community for moving away from the Dukes ball.
"The Dukes ball has some advantages and disadvantages, some extra advantages as well. So, many people want to move away from the Dukes ball. Our technical people also want to move away from it," he said.
The BCB officially introduced the Dukes ball in the NCL ahead of the 2022-23 season, replacing the SG ball in an effort to better prepare Bangladesh cricketers for overseas conditions.
The decision came after repeated struggles by Bangladesh's batters against seam and swing, particularly on tours of New Zealand and the West Indies.
The Dukes ball, renowned for its pronounced hand-stitched seam and ability to swing for extended periods, was expected to expose technical deficiencies among batters while creating a more demanding environment for domestic cricket.
Its introduction also encouraged curators to prepare greener, livelier wickets that offered more assistance to fast bowlers than the traditionally spin-friendly surfaces seen in Bangladesh.
The change produced mixed results.
Batting averages dropped significantly as top-order batters found run-scoring increasingly difficult, but fast bowlers benefited from the extra movement and seam assistance.
Several young pacers emerged during this period and Bangladesh's pace attack has since become one of the team's biggest strengths in international cricket.
The board now appears to believe that the experiment has largely achieved its objective, which led to the potential switch back to the SG ball as BCB's technical committee believes it may be time to move to the next stage of domestic development.
Bangladesh are scheduled to host the Windies in October for a two-Test series.
Ironically, the Caribbean side has used the Dukes ball in both its domestic first-class competition and home Test matches since 2018.
Bangladesh followed suit four years later, becoming only the third country after England and the West Indies to use the Dukes ball in its premier domestic first-class competition.