Misbah wary of "instinctive" use of saliva; proposes bowlers wearing mask to implement ban

Traditional practice of applying saliva on the ball could be discontinued as early as June.

Misbah Ul Haq | GettyPakistan's head coach and chief selector, Misbah Ul Haq, reckons bowlers would find it difficult to abide by saliva-ban, set to be imposed by ICC due to COVID-19 pandemic, and may "instinctively" end up still using their respiratory droplets to try and maintain the shine of the cricket ball. 

To ensure that doesn't happen, however, the former captain also suggested bowlers be forced to wear masks in the initial days of cricket's on-field resumption. 

Read Also: Zaheer Khan weighs in over saliva-ban; advises players how to combat lockdown

The ICC Cricket Committee's recommendation to bar players from using saliva on the ball will most probably be ratified by the governing body in June and become applicable to cricket matches played thereafter. 

"It is not going to be easy at all (bowling without applying saliva). This is a habit players have developed since the start of their cricket. Even if a player keeps in mind the new restrictions somewhere he might act instinctively," said Misbah in an interview on youtube channel, 'Cricket Baaz'. 

"We might have to do something to prevent this. Like making bowlers wear a mask or some other restrictive protection so that they don’t use saliva instinctively," he added.

Saliva-ban, even if temporarily imposed, could be the most significant change in the recent history of cricket, as it would have a major influence on bowlers and affect the balance of competitiveness between the two main disciplines of the sport. 

Misbah is aware of how that might impact his bowlers if the scheduled tour of England goes ahead. 

"Our bowlers could find it difficult in English conditions. Because they regularly use saliva to shine one side of the ball to get it to swing more," he said. "You can shine the ball through other legal methods but using saliva ensures one side of the ball has weight and this is very helpful to the pace bowlers."

"Whether we like it or not cricket is not going to be the same again until that time some cure is found to this Coronavirus. So we need to get back to playing cricket but slowly and carefully. The players also need to realise it is not going to be easy for them in changed conditions," he added. 

(Inputs from PTI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 26 May, 2020

    Share Via