Cummins seeks alternative to shine ball after spit ban
Image : Collected
|| Desk Report ||
Australia quick fast-bowler Pat Cummins said he wants cricket lawmakers to allow the bowlers to use artificial substances to shine the ball after a ban on the use of saliva was recommended in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis.
Presenting his argument, the Australian quick said they have to have an alternative to spit if the ban on the use of saliva was recommended.
“If we remove saliva, we have to have another option,” Pat Cummins said.
“Sweat’s not bad, but I think we need something more than that, ideally. Whatever that is, wax or I don’t know what,” Cummins told the cricket.com.au, the official website of the Cricket Australia (CA).
“If that’s what that science is telling us, that it’s high risk using saliva ... as long as we’re keeping other options open, whether that’s sweat or something artificial,” he added.
Earlier this month, Australian cricket-ball manufacturer Kookaburra said it had developed a wax applicator to enhance shine and aid swing.
Cummins’s team mate and fellow quick Josh Hazlewood said the proposed ban on saliva would be difficult to police.
The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricket committee has recommended the ban on the use of spit when the sport returns to the field after the period of the coronavirus shutdown because of fears it could lead to the spread of COVID-19 virus that rocked the world with its devastating contagion.
