ICC will have to say what’s allowed and what’s not- Ottis Gibson
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|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh pace bowling coach Ottis Gibson said that ICC must come up specific guidelines regarding shining the ball when cricket resumes after the corona pandemic as he is not convinced what will be in place if saliva is not used.
The cricket committee of the ICC has officially recommended that saliva must not be used to shine the ball in light of the health and safety risk it poses in a world currently inhabited by the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
The issue of maintaining the ball has been a subject of debate given the elevated risk of the transmission of the virus through saliva - commonly used to shine the ball. The technical committee sought advice from Dr. Peter Harcour, Chair of the ICC Medical Advisory Committee before reaching consensus on the proposal.
‘’I think it’s an interesting time for the game right now and to cooperate and everything. Certain things are gonna change. How we look after the ball is gonna be one of those things. A lot of teams are very particular the way they look after the ball especially trying to get the reverse swing in the innings. We have also seen people use artificial means to get the ball reverse,’’ was quoted in an English daily.
‘’I think at the moment ICC have to take a lead on this. ICC has to be very specific what can and cannot be used. These are gonna have to be the rules that every other teams have to lead by, You cannot leave people to what they want. Some people will try to do the right thing and some people will try to manipulate the ball. ICC will have to say what’s allowed and what’s not. People can’t do it in their own ways,’’ he concluded.
The Committee was also apprised that it is highly unlikely that the virus could be transmitted through sweat and saw no need to prohibit the use of the same to polish the ball. It did, however, call for the implementation of enhanced hygiene measures on and around the playing field.
