Anil Kumble is the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee which has directed to ban the usage of saliva on the ball in post-COVID-19 matches.
Anil Kumble file image. (Photo: IANS)
Anil Kumble, the chairman of ICC Cricket Committee which has directed the governing body to ban the usage of saliva on the ball in post-COVID-19 matches, has said that now would be the time to get the spinners back into the game and make cricket more balanced between bat and ball.
“The advantage that cricket has over other sports is that there is an element of adjustable variance in the pitch, which not many sports have,” Kumble said during a webinar, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Wednesday as quoted by ESPN. “You could manage the pitch in such a way that you could bring about a better balance between bat and ball.”
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“You can probably leave grass on the surface or even rough it up and have two spinners,” the former Indian captain said. “Let’s get spinners back in the game in a Test match. Because if it’s a one-day or T20 game, you’re not worried about the ball or shining of the ball. Sweat can certainly take care of that.
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“It’s Test match that we’re talking about and in a Test match why not get two spinners? (I) would love to have two spinners playing in Australia, two spinners playing in England, which never happens. Not often do you see that happening. Of course in the subcontinent, you have two spinners playing. So, in cricket you have the surface you can play around with and bring about a balance between bat and ball. All of us are yearning to start the game and not really worried about saliva or sweat or condition of the ball – we just want to play cricket.”
ICC during its meeting last month had discussed the use of artificial substances like vaseline to shine the ball in order to keep the players away from using saliva and sweat to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. But as of now, the usage of an alternative substance on the ball has not been allowed.
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