There are balls that are red, white, pink, blue, Kookaburra, Duke, seaming, reverse-swinging, spinning, old, new, hard, soft, and so on.
It’s understandable that newbies to cricket find it difficult to grasp the game’s nuances given the abundance of implicit language used in the sport—in this example, referring only to the major object of play.
However, there are two things that you have probably always wondered about what’s inside a cricket ball and how are they made? You can stop wondering now, dear reader.
Like a planet, a cricket ball is composed of various layers (so much for the furious geologist phalanx that would like to attack Bleacher Report HQ to protest this enormous oversimplification).
The inside
The cricketing cliche “the sound of leather on willow” is well known, and it is true that hardened leather covers the sphere’s hard exterior. However, there are two more significant parts below this. First, the ball’s hardcore is made up of a chunk of cork that is coated with tightly wound string to give it a spherical form.
The four pieces of leather are then placed together and the “equator” is stitched with string to form an elevated seam, following the process of having all the parts weighed to make sure they are within the standard range for a cricket ball (155.9-163.0 grams for a men’s ball).
After that, the leather is dyed, embossed with the maker’s name, and polished several times before being shipped to eager seam bowlers all over the world.
How are they produced?
According to the Kookaburra video above, the majority of cricket ball makers still handcraft a significant portion of their merchandise, even if machines have undoubtedly made some aspects of the job easier over time.
Therefore, keep in mind the lengthy procedure that goes on behind the scenes to make these unique sporting spheres the next time you find an old ball in a hedge or the bottom of a drawer or when you watch fielders on television complaining about it getting out of shape.
Making of a cricket ball FAQs
1) How are cricket balls made?
A leather case with a slightly elevated sewed seam covers a cork core that is layered with tightly coiled string to create a cricket ball.
2) Is animal skin used to make cricket balls?
Typically, cowhide or cow leather is used to make cricket balls, although occasionally, buffalo or ox hide is also utilized.
3) How much does a cricket ball weigh?
When brand-new, the ball should weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (163 and 155.9 g) and have a circumference of between 8.81 and 22.4 cm and 9 in (22.9 cm). 4.2.