Introduction to IDEA

Submitted To: Mr. Arshad Hussain

Prepared By: Syed Qasim Ali

Lahore Business School

UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE
 Cricket Ball:
A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball
is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level. The manipulation of a cricket ball, through
employment of its various physical properties, is the staple component of bowling and dismissing
batsmen – movement in the air, and off the ground, is influenced by the condition of the ball and the
efforts of the bowler, while working on the cricket ball to obtain an optimum condition is a key role of
the fielding side. The cricket ball is the principal manner through which the batsman scores runs, by
manipulating the ball into a position where it would be safe to take a run, or by directing the ball
through the boundary

In Test cricket and most domestic games that spread over a multitude of days, the cricket ball is
traditionally coloured red. In many one day cricket matches, the ball is coloured white. Training balls
of white, red and pink are also common

During cricket matches, the quality of the ball changes to a point where it is no longer usable, and
during this decline its properties alter and thus influence the match. Altering the state of the cricket
ball outside the permitted manners designated in the rules of cricket is prohibited during a match, and
'ball tampering' has resulted in numerous controversies

Cricket balls, which weigh on average between 155.9 and 163.0 grams, are known for their hardness
and for the risk of injury involved when using them. The danger of cricket balls was a key motivator
for the introduction of protective equipment. Injuries are often recorded in cricket matches due to the
ball, and a small number of fatalities have been recorded or attributed to cricket balls.

Manufacture:

Cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is layered with tightly wound string, and
covered by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. In a top-quality ball suitable for
the highest levels of competition, the covering is constructed of four pieces of leather shaped
similar to the peel of a quartered orange, but one hemisphere is rotated by 90 degrees with
respect to the other. The "equator" of the ball is stitched with string to form the ball's
prominent seam, with a total of six rows of stitches. The remaining two joins between the
leather pieces are stitched internally. Lower-quality balls with a 2-piece covering are also
popular for practice and lower-level competition due to their lower purchase cost.

For men's cricket, the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163.0 g) and
measure between 8 13/16 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in circumference. Balls used in
women's and youth matches are slightly smaller

Dangers of cricket balls

Cricket balls are notoriously hard and potentially

lethal, hence today's batsmen and close fielders often
wear protective headgear. Raman Lamba died when hit
on the head while fielding at forward short leg in a
club match in Bangladesh. Only two other cricketers
are known to have died as a result of on-field injuries
in a first-class fixture. Both were hit while batting:
George Summers of Nottinghamshire on the head at
Lord's in 1870; and Abdul Aziz, the Karachi wicket-
keeper, over the heart in the 1958-59 Quaid-e-Azam
final. Ian Folley of Lancashire, playing for
Whitehaven in 1993, died after being hit. A cricket umpire died in 2009 in South Wales after
being hit on the head by a ball thrown by a fielder.

Numerous injuries are reported to health institutions, worldwide, in relation to cricket ball
injuries including: occular (with some players having even lost eyes), cranial (head), digital
(fingers and toes) and testicular.

Problems:
Problems of the modern cricket balls are following:

 Roughness of leather during the match; surface of the ball become rough as match progress
and so it can’t be use after some overs.
 The ball spoiled when exposed to water; dew is a problem in day and night matches
 Deshaping in some cases: due to impact , strings below leather pressed
 Weight: weight of the ball has caused a few deaths and numerous injuries
 Broken seam reduces the life of ball

Solutions:
The possible solutions for the above mentioned problems may be:

Leather:

Leather is a problem due to roughness so we replace leather with Nylon (a manmade fiber) we can
increase its strength and wear resistance at great extant. But there is a problem water absorption of
Nylon fiber is high(but we can fix it out).
Waterproof:

To make it water resistant we can make a coating of polyurethane (a low density polymer material)
which will protect our ball surface from water.

Deshaping:

To avoid deshapig of our ball we can use glass fiber strings which not only provide strength but also
help us in reducing weight

Weight:

We have used all synthetic fibers so weight of the ball will reduce (approximately 125g) which help in
reducing injuries

Price:

The materials we are using are relatively cheap and also life of the ball is increased so overall our ball
will be economical.

References:
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.answer.com
 www.waterproofworld.co.uk