Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne said that he was willing to “sacrifice” the use of saliva to maintain the shine of the ball at a time when ICC is contemplating to prevent the use of body fluids on the ball in the post-COVID-19 matches.
An ESPNcricinfo report had stated that ICC during its meeting considered 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.
“The objective for everyone is to get back on the field, so whatever sacrifices or slight tweaks in the game that need to be made… for us as players, it’s about being adaptable and being able to abide by those new laws, if that is the case,” Labuschagne was quoted as saying by Sydney Herald, according to PTI.
The 25-year-old, who is a part-time leg-spinner, admitted that it would be strange to not use saliva especially for the shiners of the ball.
“In terms of shining it, it will be slightly strange. When you’re on the field it’s so natural if you’re one of the ball shiners to get the ball and put a little bit of saliva on your finger and try to buff out some of the rough areas of the ball,” Labuschagne said.
“If that doesn’t happen, then that’s the way it is. That’s just how we’re going to have to deal with this situation,” he added.
The issue of legalisation of ball-tampering has led to divided opinions with West Indies pace great Michael Holding saying it is a bit “self contradictory”, while South Africa legend Allan Donald being open to the idea.
Meanwhile, Labuschagne’s national teammate David Warner did not support the idea and had said that there were other things as well that could spread the virus among cricketers as the players keep “sharing change rooms and everything else”.
Earlier, veteran Indian cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra had said that saliva and sweat were the required components to maintain the shine of the ball.
Among others, batting great Sachin Tendulkar said players will be wary of using saliva to shine the ball, while Pakistan legend Waqar Younis supported the use of spit.
With PTI inputs