Claims a Dukes ball from a previous series could have been the one selected as a replacement by umpires in the final Ashes Test have been rejected as “ludicrous” by Surrey County Cricket Club, which was responsible for providing the balls.
Amid the fallout from the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval, Dilip Jajodia, the owner of Dukes cricket balls, vowed to launch his own investigation after Australian players and commentators questioned the quality of the replacement ball used in the second innings last week.
Australian batter Usman Khawaja said he raised the issue twice with the umpires, who replaced the ball late on the fourth day after it struck his helmet, declaring it was markedly different from any used in the series.
England won the match by 49 runs to level the series 2-2 and it emerged some believed among the available replacement balls were ones from the 2019 series that had…