Alan Richardson

The Worcestershire head coach has his say on the world of cricket

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HERE has been lots of focus on the balls we have been using in the latest round of County Championship matches.

We've played two rounds with the Kookaburra ball rather than the Dukes one that we normally use.

There two more matches to be played with them and the idea behind using them is that it helps to get bowlers used to bowling with Kookaburra balls used overseas.

In Tests, Dukes are used in England, Ireland and the West Indies, but it's the Kookaburra which is used elsewhere.

So there’s the thought that giving our bowlers experience of playing county cricket with a Kookaburra will help them playing abroad.

Rob Key, who is in charge of England, is a big fan of the concept and there is rationale behind the decision.

But the question which has to be asked - and has been by other county coaches - is how many aspiring international cricketers were playing in the most recent round of games?

The answer is not too many so it probably hasn't helped too much.

If we're going to be continue with this experiment, then we have to make sure it's in the correct place in the schedule.