Jagatguru of Puri Mutt, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati (has given) a clarion call to stop using cricket balls because these are made of cow hide ...

The manufacturers concede the Shankaracharya's  religious sentiments for the cow. But then why the hue andcry over the ball which uses only bull hide, they argue. "The cricket ball industry uses the hide of dead animals," said T.N. Anand, director of a cricket gear manufacturer in Meerut ... He felt that using cow hide does not amount to slaughter ...

Cow hide owes its acceptability to its texture which makes it easy to mold, according to Ravish Bharadwaj, another manufacturer ... Other advantages include the colour that the hide imparts to the ball and its density which is just right for an easy grip.

A ban would affect the nearly two lakh labourers engaged in manufacturing cricket balls ... The ban, the manufacturers feel, would benefit the cricket ball industry in Pakistan .. (Source: R.Pegu in The Week, 2 May, 1999)