David Warner and Usman Khawaja made “ball change” jokes on social media ahead of the Women’s Football World Cup semi-final clash between Australia and England.

Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.

Just when you thought Ashes 2023 was done with all the controversies and banter, Warner and Khawaja have reopened the ‘ball change’ saga with their tweets, while discussing the Women’s Football World Cup semi-final between England and Australia, scheduled for August 16.

On the final morning of the fifth Ashes Test match at the Kia Oval, a changed ball moved around significantly more than the previous, older ball, leading to a batting collapse for Australia which eventually led to their defeat.

The ball was changed late on the fourth evening after Khawaja was struck on the helmet by a Mark Wood bouncer. The changed ball looked considerably newer than the 37-over-old ball that was replaced. Ricky Ponting asked for an investigation into the ball change after the match.

[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]

Reports of the Dukes’ ball owner going to launch an internal investigation also emerged after speculations grew that the changed ball might have been from an older 2018/19 batch, which was known for being helpful for bowlers. However, the Dukes owner quashed those reports soon after.

Two weeks after the Ashes got over, Khawaja and Warner have picked up the discussion around the topic once again as they joked about the English team asking for a ball change and being provided with a ball from an older batch in the upcoming Women’s Football World Cup semifinal between England and Australia.

Warner wished Australian team luck: “Keep an eye out in case the Poms ask to change the ball 🤣🤣🤣,” and tagged the Barmy Army. Khawaja responded to Warner’s post with, “They going to go with the 2010 “Jubulani” ball.”

The Jabulani ball was the official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The slightly different design caused it to behave differently on the pitch. There was controversy surrounding the ball as footballers complained that the ball’s trajectory was unstable and unpredictable. Its production eventually ceased after a couple of years.

The reference comes on the back of the allegations that the changed Dukes ball on the fifth morning of the final Ashes Test match might have been from the 2018/19 batch of balls, which were known to swing and seam around more and for longer than usual.

Related tags:

Usman KhawajaInternational CricketSeries EditorialDavid Warner