'That's nonsense' - Dukes owner dismisses Joe Root's ball claims

England defeated Pakistan by 194 runs in the second Test at Lord's on August 30, 2026. Joe Root managed 28 runs across two innings in that match and has struggled significantly with lbw dismissals throughout the summer series. Root has been dismissed lbw seven times in nine dismissals across four innings during the 2026 summer series, scoring 265 runs at an average of 29.44.

Root has theorised that the seam on current Dukes balls has been reinforced with lacquer to prevent the ball from going out of shape. He acknowledged the lack of concrete evidence for his claim but suggested the manufacturer may have made this change to extend the ball's lifespan during matches. Three of his seven lbw dismissals this summer came in the two Tests at Lord's, where he was dismissed by Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali, with an earlier lbw dismissal by New Zealand's Nathan Smith in June 2026.

"I think there’s a different lacquer to them. I’ve not got evidence on that. They don’t want them to go out of shape and get them changed," Root said after the second Test.

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Jajodia's response and manufacturing explanation

Dilip Jajodia, owner of British Cricket Balls Ltd, firmly rejected Root's assertion. The manufacturer has denied any recent changes to the ball's specifications or composition. Jajodia explained that cricket balls are made from natural raw materials, which inherently contain variation from batch to batch.

“That’s nonsense. There’s nothing different with the balls. Cricket balls are not like an engineering product made out of metal. This is made out of natural raw materials. There is always variation in natural raw materials,” said Jajodia to Indian Express.

The Dukes ball manufacturing process involves hides extracted from Aberdeen Angus cattle reared in Scotland, which are tanned in Chesterfield. The raw material is then sent to units in India and Pakistan for stitching before being returned to England for finishing at the Walthamstow factory. Jajodia noted that complaints about ball durability have existed for years and are not a recent phenomenon.

“It’s hand-made by a human being. There will always be slight variations from one batch to another. Even one individual ball can be different to another. If I made a really hard ball, it would have broken bats… As a batter, when you practise, they’re cracking your bats more frequently," said Jajodia.

“That’s been going on for donkey’s years. This is not a new phenomenon. We’ve had the driest summer in a long time in England. And then suddenly we had rain. So within two Test matches, there were totally different conditions. The conditions are variable but my job is to be as consistent as possible with the difficulty of the nature of the product,” he added.