Following the drubbing in England, the good news for the Indian batsmen in Australia is that the ball will not do as much, laterally, for as long as it did in England, writes S Ram Mahesh in the Hindu. The bowlers will have bounce to work with.

Unlike the Duke, with its prominent, hand-stitched seam, the Kookaburra ball, with its flatter, machine-stitched seam, allows a batsman to settle after the newness has worn off. Also, an Australian summer is drier than its English equivalent. The less water-charged the atmosphere, the less the ball is observed to swing. On Australia's firmer wickets, moreover, the ball doesn't deviate off the surface to the same degree it does in England.