Soft/Poly Cricket Ball

Rahik · #1 April 20, 2010, 05:59 AM

Summer is looking set to be a scorcher this year and hopefully some dry weather will let us play some cricket here. I was just wondering if anyone had an idea about cricket balls that resemble the real thing in terms of pace and bounce. Taping up tennis balls for play is tiresome and just doesn't feel satisfactory when outfield is a bit damp. We have a pitch nearby where some league matches take place - the teams of course play with the real thing.

I looked up amazon and found items like Easton Incrediball, Supaball and whatnot. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easton-Incre...1761088&sr=1-6
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easton-Incre...1761088&sr=1-5

Would any of these be good for twenty over games and do they feel like the real thing without the sting? Would appreciate any info, thanks kindly.

bujhee kom · #2 April 22, 2010, 04:55 PM

Woow! I had no idea Rahik bhai, but I really liked those Easton Incrediball cricket balls, looked very good, they looked like to me that they would feel like very much like a real cricket ball minus the sting, but I don't know, I myself would like to know, if any bhai or apa knows anything, played these Easton Incrediballs before?!

shaad · #3 April 22, 2010, 06:44 PM

Tennis balls, injected with 3-5% agarose gel (you will have to determine the amount empirically) by a hypodermic syringe and needle, and then taped over with duct tape, gave us the right sort of bounce and weight without leaving severe bruises when hit.

Orpheus · #4 April 22, 2010, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaad
Tennis balls, injected with 3-5% agarose gel (you will have to determine the amount empirically) by a hypodermic syringe and needle, and then taped over with duct tape, gave us the right sort of bounce and weight without leaving severe bruises when hit.

This might be the GEEKIEST cricket related post in history of Banglacricket. Agarose gel in tennis ball hahah...

Reminds me of the move flubber or something like that.

Zeeshan · #5 April 22, 2010, 07:16 PM

Oh plz ^...

That sounded more gangster than anything. As if something torn out from anarchist cookbook or sh[]

*AsifTheManRahman* · #6 April 22, 2010, 07:39 PM

What #4 and #5 said.

Hatebreed · #7 April 22, 2010, 07:44 PM

A lot of nerd chicks would totally go weak in the knees from post by shaad bhai.. learn a thing or two guys, it might just help you get laid.

Rahik · #8 April 23, 2010, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaad
Tennis balls, injected with 3-5% agarose gel (you will have to determine the amount empirically) by a hypodermic syringe and needle, and then taped over with duct tape, gave us the right sort of bounce and weight without leaving severe bruises when hit.

Would I not require some sort of ball surgery qualification to carry out this procedure =)? I think thats a little farfetched if you don't mind me saying. If I factor in the cost for buying agarose along with the other equipment you mentioend, I probably could buy many dozen Eastons.

I was able to test the bounce of a Slazenger (asked a nice chap in Sportsdirect) practise ball and the bounce was not too dissimilar to the real thing. The name put me off as it seemed geared towards net practise more than casual matches.

What about heavy tennis balls: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reebok-Heavy...2021680&sr=1-1. Would these be even better when taped?

Tomorrows match will very well be with taped tennis balls.

shaad · #9 April 23, 2010, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orpheus
This might be the GEEKIEST cricket related post in history of Banglacricket. Agarose gel in tennis ball hahah...

Thank you, thank you (bows and revels in his geekiness

). We also made collapsible (hinge-based) wicket stumps -- a bunch of us (South Asians, Aussies, Kiwis, even some Americans) used to play cricket in the baseball/softball pitches in a little park near the Harvard Med School when I was postdoc -- and we weren't allowed to poke regular stumps into the ground. Those agarose-filled tennis balls probably saved our collective butts a couple of times; there was one incident when a well-struck four hit the head of a ten-year kid also playing in the park -- imagine what the consequences would have been had it been a real cricket ball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahik
Would I not require some sort of ball surgery qualification to carry out this procedure =)? I think thats a little farfetched if you don't mind me saying. If I factor in the cost for buying agarose along with the other equipment you mentioend, I probably could buy many dozen Eastons.

Rahik, my reply was half in jest. That said, we did try some commercial cricket ball alternatives (I don't recall the brand names), and were not satisfied, particularly from the bowler's perspective -- they simply didn't fly and/or bounce like a real cricket ball. That's why we started "manufacturing" our own. And for what it's worth, agarose is pretty cheap -- you could buy 25g for about $20 - $30, and use it to "make" more than a dozen BioGeek(TM) balls, for the cost of say, three Easton balls.

*AsifTheManRahman* · #10 April 23, 2010, 12:32 PM

Shaad bhai, I can identify with playing cricket on baseball pitches in Ontario, Canada. Quite the challenge - the surfaces are usually minefields and only the straightest (no pun intended) of batsmen seem to be able to survive.

For example, as a part time leggie, I extract turn that Fat Boy would be proud of. Not to mention what the quicker bowlers can do to you.