Polishing ball with artificial substance may be allowed

New Delhi, April 24

The usage of artificial substances to polish the cricket ball, which effectively means ball-tampering, could be considered for legalisation when the game resumes after the Covid-19 pandemic that has made bowlers wary of applying saliva on the red cherry.

According to reports, administrators are “open to the option of allowing for the use of an agreed artificial substance to polish the ball under the supervision of the umpires”, which amounts to ball-tampering as per the current rules governing the sport. However, an ICC CEC member refused to say whether such a discussion will happen and only revealed that “saliva on the ball is something they will consider but at a later date when it looks like we will have a return to cricket.” The matter of saliva being unsafe was raised by the ICC’s medical committee and it would be addressed before the game resumes.

Shining the ball is an integral part of the Test cricket as it helps the bowlers swing the ball, both conventional and reverse. If the move gets the nod, it would be quite ironic for the game’s administrators after the 2018 ball-tampering controversy which led to one-year bans on Steve Smith and David Warner for conspiring to use sandpaper to alter the ball. Following the chief executives meeting of the ICC on Thursday, its medical committee, headed by Peter Harcourt, had issued an update. — PTI