Players have always used the traditional method of polishing one side of the ball with saliva and sweat to help generate more momentum in the air as it travels towards the batsmen.
changed this post covid And in July 2020, the no-saliva rule was implemented when cricket resumed after the suspension of COVID-19. Now, when the new rules come into effect from October 1 this year, the use of saliva on the ball will be tantamount to ball tampering.
Although the change in laws has received mixed reactions, cricket ball manufacturers seem to be unfazed by the developments.
Caught by TimesofIndia.com Dilip JajodiaManaging Director of British Cricket Balls Ltd., which manufactures Duke balls used in England and the West Indies and Paras Ananddirector Sanspareils Greenlands (SG), the firm that produces used cricket balls in India.
“I had said earlier that the ban on the use of saliva on the cricket ball is not a big deal, although the bowlers were saying that they cannot swing the ball without saliva. Anyway, based on the health hazard, people accepted Did it. Now they are saying because that (saliva ban) didn’t cause too many problems, we should just allow sweat, not saliva. And now the reason for banning saliva is because people suck sweets and The sugar along with the saliva causes a type of cellulose substance that apparently adsorbs into the pores of the leather (the ball’s) when you apply friction so it can aid in shine. So there is a possibility of taking unfair advantage because You can’t stop someone from chewing gum or sucking on sweets,” Jajodia told TimesofIndia.com.
Jajodia also actually mentioned a change to the MCC rule – about how the ban permanently removes the gray area for fielders’ sweets or mints to thicken their saliva, which in turn may alter or alter the nature of the ball as applicable thereto. This is the reason why umpires will now consider the use of saliva on the ball as ball tampering. The MCC’s rule for this now says: The use of saliva shall be treated in the same manner as any other improper method of changing the position of the ball.
Till now (post-Covid), if a fielder accidentally applied saliva to the ball, the ball was cleared immediately.
“The ban was already there. When this thing (saliva ban) was discussed in 2020, when cricket resumed, at that time it was a new thing for us. At that time we did some research and development on how it Will affect the game, what are the alternatives, some people even developed wax to shine the ball. But what has happened in the last two years is that cricket has happened, both red ball and white ball cricket, yet There hasn’t been much impact.” SG’s Paras Anand told TimesofIndia.com.
The MCC said it had found through research that the saliva ban had little or no effect on the amount of swing the bowlers received. The ball will still be allowed to shine with sweat.
“Going back to sweating, I said it has the same effect because basically the body excretes normal grease, for example if you don’t shower for a week your skin will be very greasy, so the body first So if you’re playing sports in a particularly hot environment in which cricket is supposed to be played, like if you’re running up and down and you’re sweating, it’s (Greece) mixed with sweat. And if you rub your forehead or back on your neck, and the moisture that gets on your hand will contain grease, natural grease and water, which is sweat, which you then apply to the leather (of the ball), it absorbs and as you rub the ball on your trousers, the water will evaporate from the friction and the grease will stay there and it acts like shoe polish, it shines the surface. so it won’t be as good as saliva but it Will definitely be enough to help the bowlers and now I think bowlers have got used to the sweat routine so I don’t think it (saliva ban) should even be there. a. There is a lot of problem,” Jajodia said.
Players around the world have undoubtedly become used to the rule of no saliva by now. They just have to keep this in mind going forward, as it will now be considered a serious offence, although officials certainly aren’t going to come down heavily on players who may have inadvertently used saliva on the ball – although not all players. There is enough time to be well aware of the new rules, which come into effect only on October 1, 2022.
And if the swing isn’t really getting affected, then the bowlers and the fielding sides really shouldn’t be paying much attention to it.
“It never felt like bowlers were not able to reverse swing the ball or shine the ball, so just using sweat has done a lot of work. It can take a little longer for the bowling team. To prepare the ball but they are able to shine more on one side than the other. There is someone in the team who sweats a lot. There is always a player in the XI who sweats a lot and should be given the ball. But sweating is work. There is no point in making the ball shine with sweat.”
Meanwhile, Jajodia also technically explained why for example Duke’s ball would not actually be affected by the saliva ban.
“The Deux Ball is greased to waterproof the surface of the leather. The leather already has grease. The surface polish, which is only a top coat, is a shellac polish that wears out very quickly and your There’s grease coming in. So if you sweat, which has some grease mixed in, you increase the grease that’s already on the ball. So on a Duke ball, you keep the shine on longer. can, then you get momentum and a little bit of movement with the ball. The ball supplied to the West Indies is exactly the same ball, but it doesn’t have grease, because the pitches are very dry so the ball swings and later, it Don’t take enough oil from your sweat or in the old days, spit or saliva, so that it doesn’t swing much. So Duke’s ball in West Indies is a little different so that effect will be less,” Jajodia said.
In all, nine changes have been made by the MCC to various laws.
The new laws will come into effect from October 1 this year.