Question

What type of market structure is the cricket ball product line of Kookaburra Sport fall under? Would it be imperfect competition or an oligopoly? How would I determine this?

Answer 1

The Thompson family, owners of the Kookaburra cricket equipment brand, could give masterclasses. When the English balls that were used in Test matches in Australia - mostly Wisden Special Crowns - fell out of favour after the second World War, Kookaburra won the Australian Cricket Board's contract.Today they are the biggest manufacturer of cricket balls in the world. In Test matches, their hegemony prevails everywhere but India, where the SG ball is used, and England and the West Indies, where the Dukes ball .Kookaburra faced no backlash from the ACB for their involvement with WSC, partly because of a lack of a strong competitor, and partly because the two were bedfellows at lower levels of cricket. In fact, after WSC, ODIs in Australia became coloured-clothing, white-ball affairs and Kookaburra's reach spread further, soon enough into New Zealand. In 1992, Kookaburra white balls were used for the first time in a World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. That tournament is remembered for many reasons, but not usually for being the first - and, until 2015, only - World Cup to feature two new balls in an innings. The following World Cup, in the subcontinent in 1996, also used the Kookaburra white ball.he brands have their share of supporters and detractors. The Kookaburra's consistency has led to it being widely accepted around the world, despite its limitations. Some players, like former England international Samit Patel, enjoy the Kookaburra because its seam is wider than the Dukes, giving a spinner more surface area to land the ball on it.However, the stiff competition in the sector will make the SG to up its game in fighting the Goliaths that has remained tough. The SG is the solely the authorized supplier of cricket balls to the BCCI in the domestic circuit. Nevertheless, the Company’s cricket balls are facing the end of the road triggered by the competition from the Kookaburra, the global leader. Again the MRF is also competing with the SG after making an entry into the cricket bat production where people who see its logo in bats triggered a series of queries at sports good stores for the MRF bats. The venturing of MRF into bat making or marketing has tapped the potential thereby triggering stiff competition.

The SG faces the major stiff competition from such big names specializing in the cricket supplies including SS and BDM. These are cottage industries with some being suppliers of the English bat brands of the Gray-Nicolls besides Gun & Moore alongside Australia’s Kookaburra have remained shrugging off the worldwide economic recession. The revenue of the BDM has increased ten percent compared to the previous year. The Nelco is the subsequent door and an athletics gear manufacture which is exporting to fifty-seven nations, convalesced from the demanding family disagreement to increase incomes sixty percent.able to charge less amount compared to its main competitors like Kookaburra and Slazenger. For example, the SG charges 20% of the price charged by Kookaburra which demonstrates that its products are cheaper. The demand curve facing SG is likely to be relatively elastic due to the existence of many substitutes just it would always happen a perfectly competitive market. The firm is, therefore, constrained and cannot mark up its price beyond the marginal cost as the competition is higher and hence uses the low price as mechanism to attract and retain customers.

The Duke & SG balls are both handmade while the Kookaburra is machine-made.The subtle differences are the treatment of the leather surfaces and the height and quality of the seam.The Kookaburra is generally redder in colour and swings from the word go, and for the first 30 overs is quite difficult to play against on a helpful surfaceThe Duke is a much darker red (enjoyed by the bowlers), does not swing from the start but as the lacquer used on the ball wears off, it swings conventionally.The SG ball is redder in colour and almost identical to the Duke but hardly swings at all. Contrary to the words of many commentators, the SG ball is not easy to reverse swing and it offers no greater reverse than the Kookaburra balls.The Kookaburra keeps its shine longer but starts to soften after 35-40 overs and batting becomes a lot easier as it seems to get softer and loses the seam. Reverse swing is less than the Duke ball.This is only in the UK because, as I said earlier, the Duke ball cannot survive subcontinent conditions because of the way the leather is treated.SG retains its seam but can become fat in the hand. The spin bowler can get the grip and purchase he needs from the seam and therefore in India where the pitches turn predominantly they are preferred.Generally, and it is reflected by the countries using the balls, they reflect the bowlers requests. The bowlers prefer to use the Kookaburra which swings although every spinner will tell you he likes to grip the SG ball.