Warner and Bracewell critical of balls

In the summer of the experimental pink ball, its manufacturers cannot have imagined facing so much criticism of its traditional red variant.

Australia's vice-captain David Warner made pointed criticism of the ball after the second day at the WACA and not without due cause - no fewer than eight have been required so far in a match where the usual allocation would have been three. New Zealand required a replacement for each of the two balls they were entitled to in 133 overs, while Australia have used no fewer than four in a mere 42 overs of New Zealand's response.

Warner initially hesitated when expressing his opinion of the balls made by Kookaburra, before getting progressively more expansive. "I'd like to give you the honest response, but I can't," he said. "The balls themselves, I don't know if they're soft or if they're in a dry condition as they're new. Honestly I don't know.

"One or two hits and the ball was becoming raised off the quarter-seam, which is very rare. This batch of balls, from probably the past 12 months, have been pretty poor. Now it's probably the fifth or sixth game we've played with Kookaburra balls where we've had to actually change them more than once on the field.

"It's actually a bit disappointing because the bowlers like to get into a rhythm [with the same ball], like to work on the ball and get it to swing. At the moment it's chopping and changing a lot."

While less forthcoming than Warner, Doug Bracewell admitted the balls had seemed to get soft very quickly. In the case of the second new ball used late on the opening day, New Zealand required a replacement within three deliveries of it being taken. "Not too sure what to put that under," Bracewell said. "It's a pretty hard wicket, they seem to get soft pretty quickly these days, so I don't know about that."

Kookaburra have been the ball supplier for the majority of the world's cricket playing nations for many years, and are long term partners of Cricket Australia. The board and the manufacturer have worked closely together on developing a pink ball for use in the inaugural day/night Test in Adelaide later this month, though the oval's pitch and outfield are having to be micromanaged to an irregular degree to ensure a favourable environment for it.

The rival Dukes ball, used in England and the West Indies, has begun to see more prominent use in Australia in recent times. As far back as 2012, CA encouraged the use of Dukes on a team performance level to better educate players about the differences between the balls, while also admitting the imported Dukes were cheaper. At the time, Kookaburra's director Rob Elliott said a move to Dukes balls in Australia would lead to the extinction of the Kookaburra.

"If we are not supported by cricket in Australia then Kookaburra won't exist basically," Elliott said. "If Cricket Australia and cricket's not supporting Kookaburra and wants to go down the imported path, then the manufacturing of cricket balls will go to the subcontinent and it will be the end of Kookaburra as we know it.

"I thought it would be appropriate for us to be using the only Australian made ball as opposed to a ball that's made in the sub-continent in Pakistan or India. That's the thing that concerns me is that all of a sudden this sort of thing erodes Australian manufacturing and Australian jobs."

As for the pink ball, Australia's players are not allowing themselves to think about it yet. Asked about his views on the newer projectile, Warner deadpanned: "Next question."