"We feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season," CA's Head of Cricket Operations Peter Roach said. © Getty

Having used both Kookaburra and Dukes balls in the Sheffield Shield competition over the last four years, Cricket Australia have reverted to the traditional model of using only the Kookaburra for the upcoming season.

Repeated failures in their attempt to capture the Ashes in England where the Dukes are used, prompted CA to start using Dukes in the domestic games from the 2016-17 season. However, with Australia finally retaining the Ashes last year in England and with a view to examine the performances of players consistently, CA have ditched the Dukes experiment.

"The introduction of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead up to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English opponents," Peter Roach, Cricket Australia's Head of Cricket Operations, said. "We have been happy with how the ball has performed when used in Australian conditions over the past four seasons.

"We do, however, feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season that CA and the States are presently seeking. The Kookaburra is the ball used for international cricket in Australia and many parts of the world and we see benefits this season of maximising our use of it."

Apart from that, CA also noted the decline in the performances of the spinners especially in the games where the Dukes were used. Roach is now hopeful of the spinners playing a bigger role with the Kookaburra balls in the upcoming season while confirming that the Dukes will make its way back into Australian cricket at some stage in the future.

"We have noted that spin bowlers in the Marsh Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use," he said. "We need spinners bowling in first-class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here. We see a definite opportunity to reintroduce the Dukes ball at some stage in the future."