David Warner opposes ban on using saliva to shine the Cricket ball

Australian opening batsman David Warner expressed his discontent over the ban of shining the Cricket ball using saliva, in an interview to cricket.com.au. Warner’s comments came after reports surfaced that the ICC is considering the possibility of legalising artificial substances to be used to maintain the ball instead of saliva and sweat. Warner, the 84 Test […]
 
?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4
David Warner opposes ban on using saliva to shine the Cricket ball

Australian opening batsman David Warner expressed his discontent over the ban of shining the Cricket ball using saliva, in an interview to cricket.com.au. Warner’s comments came after reports surfaced that the ICC is considering the possibility of legalising artificial substances to be used to maintain the ball instead of saliva and sweat.

Warner, the 84 Test old left handed opener said, “You’re sharing changerooms and you’re sharing everything else, I don’t see why you have to change that. It’s been going around for hundreds of years now, I can’t recall anyone that’s got sick by doing that.”
“If you’re going to contract a bug, I don’t think it’d necessarily be just from that.”

Warner, also the skipper of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, concluded on this topic by saying, “I’m not too sure but it’s not my place to comment on whether or not we should or shouldn’t (use saliva to shine the ball). It’s up to the ICC and the governing bodies to decide.”

ALSO READ: Holding finds no logic in legalising ball-tampering, Waqar says saliva must; Donald in favour

On the other hand, the ban has received strong support from a collection of former fast bowlers, which includes Australians Jason Gillespie and Shaun Tait and the great New Zealand all rounder Richard Hadlee, who have suggested that the practice of applying saliva to shine the ball can be abolished after the resumption of the game.

David Warner opposes ban on using saliva to shine the Cricket ball

Gillespie recently labelled the traditional ball-shining practice “pretty gross” and suggested umpires could be asked to police the shining of the ball.

Shaun Tait also expects the practice to be scrapped once games resume. The former Australia and South Australia tearaway fast bowler said, “I’ve never been a huge fan of the saliva on the ball, it’s not very nice really, we have to open to some possible changes there.”

Hadlee, meanwhile, called for an “enlarged seam to give the bowlers more assistance”. The issue is less of an issue in limited-overs cricket, but Australia quick Josh Hazlewood says “Test cricket would be very hard” if the ball could no longer be shined.

“Bowlers rely on any sort of sideways movement in the air. If you didn’t maintain the ball at all for 80 overs it would be quite easy to bat after that initial shine has gone,” he said.
“Whether you use saliva or sweat, maybe one person can do it. I’m not sure. It’s something that will have to be talked about when we get back out there and hopefully come up with a solution.”