Cherry picking

SPORT

SG cricket balls go back to the classic cherry, even as BCCI stays loyal to the brand.

Sanspareils Greenland, maker of SG cricket balls, has decided to give up its experiment with the new hide and revert to the old one. So confirms Puneet Anand, director, Sanspareils Greenland.

SG's cricket balls, used for all first class matches in India, came in for much criticism last season (when a new kind of hide was being used) for losing their shape quicker than expected.

In a related development, Board for Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to continue using SG balls.

There had been word that BCCI was considering a switch to the Australian-made Kookaburra balls for first class test matches. Sanspareils Greenland has been selling BCCI balls for over ten years now, a business worth about Rs 24 lakh for around 400 dozen balls every year.

"We want to encourage our industry, not discourage it," says Niranjan Shah, secretary, BCCI, adding that he had warned SG about its balls losing shape, and if nothing was done soon enough, the board would have to switch to Kookaburra balls.

Anand seems relieved now that the controversy is over, and SG continues as India's premier cricket ball brand. However, he expresses concern for the embarrassment that BCCI had to face on account of the leather switch on its part.

During Pakistan's tour of India in 2005, Pakistani bowlers had spoken out against the poor quality of the balls in the first two tests.

Frequent changes did not do the Board's image any good, and bowlers such as Mohammad Sami complained that they could not grip the ball because the seam was just not good enough for the purpose. BCCI had to order a fresh batch of balls.

For Sanspareils Greenland, it's a prestige issue, mostly, since much of its revenue comes from exporting cricket equipment to companies as diverse as Slazenger and Gray-Nicolls. Even Kukkaburra happens to be one of its biggest customers.

Indian cricket's relationship with the company has another dimension too: Rahul Dravid has what the company calls a "gentleman's agreement" with it, whereby the skipper endorses SG. Apart from that, M S Dhoni uses SG wicket keeping equipment.