Different kinds of balls used in Cricket

#3 SG(Sanspareils Greenlands) Balls

Sanspareils Co. was established in 1931 by brothers Kedarnath and Dwarkanath Anand in Sialkot(now in Pakistan). The company used to manufacture sports goods initially. After independence,they moved back to India and rebuilt the company in UP(Meerut).

As both the brothers were interested in cricket, they started to concentrate on it. Great players like Gavaskar started using their products. Fast forward to 1991 when BCCI approved SG and it made its debut the same year. Since then, the Tests in India are played with this ball.

Even now the balls are handmade and have upright seam which remains in good condition even after one day of play. They lose their shine very quickly because of the dry wickets in India. They are best suited for spinners because of a wider seam. After the shine goes off, they provide the bowlers with a lot of reverse swing. The swing off the new ball isn't as prominent as it is in the other two.

So Kookaburra balls are fragile and loses it’s swing very quickly because of a narrower seam, whereas Duke doesn’t lose it’s shine easily and proves to be effective even when the ball gets old. Once the Duke ball is old, it is used to get reverse swing just like SG balls. SG balls are designed for rough conditions with a wider seam and a better grip for the spinners. The pacers have their share when the ball starts to reverse.