At this year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) the tournament will use the Kookaburra Smart Ball, powered by Sportcor.
This revolutionary ball will be used in a professional league for the first time when Hero CPL gets underway in St Kitts and Nevis on August 26, 2021.
The Kookaburra Smart Ball looks, feels and plays exactly the same as a regular ball, but there is a state of the art core that registers many more data points than using radar or ball tracking technology, CPL explained on Friday.
The ball sends back significant information on each delivery including the speed and spin of a ball at release, when it bounces and when it reaches the batsman. This information is then delivered to the commentators in real time.
This will be graphically displayed for fans to enjoy during the live telecast.
Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “We are really excited to be a cricketing first once again at Hero CPL and this technology is just mind blowing. We are really excited to see the Kookaburra Smart Ball powered by Sportcor, at the heart of the action at this year’s tournament and we are sure it will give added value to the teams and the fans.”
Michael Kasprowicz, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Hero CPL to introduce the Kookaburra Smart Ball, powered by Sportcor, to the world. By delivering real time data, we look forwarding to getting fans closer to the action than ever and giving players and coaches access to new insight to their performance, enhancing the way we all experience cricket!”
David Orchard, General Manager, Kookaburra, said: “As a brand we are proud to be associated with a partner like Sportcor and are pleased they have partnered with the Hero CPL. The ball itself performs exactly like the Kookaburra Turf Ball, with the added technology to measure its behaviour according to release, pre-bounce and post bounce during a delivery.”
“At Kookaburra we are committed to continuous improvement and innovation in the game we love, and our collaboration with Sportcor on the Kookaburra Smart Ball is an example of us leading together in this space, and providing real time data on the performance of every delivery in the game. The future looks bright for broadcasters, leagues, high performance coaches and cricketers at all levels to measure their own performance with the Kookaburra Smart Ball.” (CPL)
