The latest theory about the reason for the greater swing which bowlers can achieve with this ball, which will probably be used at next year's World Cup in England, is that it is finished with a polyurethane lacquer, to prevent it becoming dirty, rather than with buck's fat.
Whatever the reason, it has been proved in the three qualifying round matches, that on clear days and on a true pitch, there was sufficient movement to justify the preference for specialist new ball bowlers.
The white ball has also proved that too many risks with the bat would also be counter-productive, as Sri Lanka found out for themselves in their first meeting with England at the same venue four days ago. It has also led to several Sri Lankan bats being broken on the tour whenever they have come up against the white ball.
Manager Ranjit Fernando said that at least eight bats have been broken so far and he has sent his observations of using the white ball to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
All three captains in the tournament have accepted the fact the white ball does produce a lot of movement and swing.
``It swings a little bit more and it is a little bit harder. The way you have to look at it is how your bowlers control the ball upfront and maintain that pace in the middle with good spinners. From the batting point of view, I think you can score more runs in the last ten overs here with the white ball than in the subcontinent,'' said South African captain Hansie Cronje.
Having the experience of playing with the white ball is one of the few positive things South Africa are taking along with them apart from winning the Texaco trophy one-day series 2-1, in what turned out to be a disappointing tour of England. They lost the Test series 2-1 to England and failed to qualify for the final of this tournament.
``We've learnt a lot about the white ball and how it behaves on these pitches. Coming back next year, I think we are the wiser for it,'' said Cronje.
``If England can do what they did at Lord's and not allow (Sanath) Jayasuriya and (Romesh) Kaluwitharana to get going, I think they should win the final by a long way,'' predicted the South African captain whose team played against the two protagonists of tomorrow's final.
``It is up to those two players upfront to score the runs, but I think England's bowling attack has too much fire power,'' he said.
``The white ball makes batting for both sides a bit harder than normal. The ball swings and seams about. We are playing on the same wicket as on Sunday. It showed a little bit of turn when Sri Lanka bowled in the first game. We won that game and I can't see any reason why we can't win the second,'' said England captain Alec Stewart.
England bowlers have the added advantage of the white ball as it is being used in the Axa Sunday league matches.
The final will no doubt be a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup when the two team's meet at the same venue on May 14 for the curtain-raiser match of the tournament.
One of the salients points to emerge out of the Emirates triangular series is the team batting first has won the match. But Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga doesn't toe that line.
``England and South Africa are not good chasers as we are. We will have to play to our strength which is batting. We are better off chasing than defending a total, it is just that we played badly in all departments in our first meeting with England,'' said Ranatunga, who is confident of putting things right in tomorrow's final.
Ranatunga has that knack of following his own intuition successfully. He did it in the World Cup final at Lahore two years ago when Sri Lanka became the first team to win the title batting second.
Sri Lanka are expected to make two changes to their side with Hashan Tillekeratne returning to the number six spot to add experience and to strengthen the batting in the lower order. Sri Lanka have been unable to last the full fifty overs in any of their previous two games.
Sri Lanka have left themselves with three options for the bowlers spot with Mahela Jayawardene, Mario Villavarayen and leg-spinner Upul Chandana in contention. That spot will be decided on the morning of the final after inspecting the state of the pitch which is expected to have a little grass on it to assist England's seam bowlers.
England are likely to bring back fast bowler Angus Fraser and left-arm spinner Ashley Giles in place of Peter Martin and Robert Croft. Giles' inclusion may strengthen England's lower order batting which has suffered collapses in both qualifying games.
One of Sri Lanka's main priorities will be to stop Graeme Hick from getting a big score. Hick has been in excellent form in the tournament scoring two half-centuries that Stewart rates him as ``a quality player''.
The winning team stands to receive 15,000 pounds sterling and the Man-of-the-tournament 2,500 pounds sterling.
The teams:
Sri Lanka (from): Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Marvan Atapattu, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Kumara Dharmasena, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Suresh Perera, Muthiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Mario Villavarayen, Muthiah Muralitharan.
England (from): Alec Stewart (captain), Nick Knight, Alistair Brown, Graeme Hick, Nasser Hussain, Adam Hollioake, Ashley Giles, Ian Austin, Angus Fraser, Darren Gough, Allan Mullally, Peter Martin, Robert Croft.
Umpires: David Shepherd and David Constant.
Match Referee: Justice Ahmed Ebrahim (Zimbabwe).