Little did we expect that Covid 19 will also strike fast bowlers!
The virus is no respecter of any persons, creed, colour or standing. But why fast bowlers?!
With the prevailing Covid 19 playing spoil sport the world over, the most discussed topic in cricket especially among fast bowlers who seem to be frustrated that there is a ban on applying saliva to keep the shine on the ball so has to obtain late or reverse swing.
Before commercialization came into the game, the wonderful game of cricket was played for the love of it and at the end immensely enjoyed by the participants.
During our playing days which were the late 1950s, 1960s and ‘70s, there were no substances used to retain the shine on the ball. Fast bowlers or the other players would rub the ball on their pants vigorously to keep the shine as long as possible.
And it was a joy to sport the pants to school on which the red of the ball left marks on the pants so that other school mates would look and admire how hard the ball had been polished. In those days no cleaner could rid the pants of the red stain.
During our days, illegal ways of keeping the shine on the ball for long did not exist. Once the shine had disappeared, came on the spin bowlers who bowled long spells, because the pace bowlers were rarely called up to bowl again unless the second new ball was taken.
But now with new innovations by fast bowlers, brought about by the greed to make big money, every illegal means was surreptiously introduced to make the ball do illegal things.
During our playing days there was no such thing called ball tampering, nor did a word like that exist. The only interference with the ball was the opening of the seam. Bowlers were warned that if they were caught in that illegal act, however a good player he was, he would be out of the game for the rest of the season.
Our coaches of that era Edward Kelaart and Bertie Wijesinghe would demonstrate to the fast bowlers how to get the ball to swing either in or out. If the bowlers wanted to bowl in-swing, they were taught to point the seam to fine-leg and bowl with an action that would get the ball to swing in.
Then if they wanted to bowl the out-swing, the bowler had to point the seam towards the slips and bowl with an action that would make the ball swing out. There were no illegal substances like Vaseline, (John Lever), dirt in the pocket, (Michael Atherton), sandpaper (Warner and Smith) or bottle openers (Imran Khan), or any other objects to scratch the ball was not heard of. Now it is ugly to see bowlers resorting to illegal methods to keep the shine on one or both sides of the ball in tact for long.
During our days only about 10 or 15 schools played cricket. School cricketers of that era can’t forget that stern umpire Dodwell Zoysa who was President or Secretary of the School Cricket Umpires Association.
He would visit all the schools before the season began and hold a session where he will tell the players how to always keep the game clean, not play dirty, not to unnecessarily appeal unless essential and other finer points.
Speaking for my school (SBC), the genial Prefect of Games at that time A.Gnanapragasm would name two players to take two glasses of water to the umpires during a water break when that great curator Rogus Perera brought a tray of water to the ground. Also we were taught to say ‘sorry sir’ to the umpire when an appeal was turned down.
Now those niceties have gone with the wind with the game being highly commercialized and there is no respect shown to umpires. Nowadays if an umpire turns down an appeal bowlers murmur four letter words.
While it must be appreciated that it was Australian business tycoon Kerry Packer who gave the poorly paid cricketers big money by introducing World Series Cricket and day/night matches for the first time which was a big draw, with it also came the ugly side of the game like cheating, ball tampering and many other vices.
With Test cricket left orphaned with Packer signing the cream of cricketers who were making colossal sums of money, the Australian Cricket Board was forced to give back the televising rights to Packer’s Chanel Nine and also increase the pay of cricketers and with that emerged the win at all costs syndrome.
Getting back to the ban on using of saliva to keep the shine on the ball, one remembers the Test match between Australia and England where off-spinner Jim Laker rewrote history by bagging 19 wickets in a Test.
In that Test in the second innings, England captain Peter May rubbed the new ball on the ground in order to get rid of the shine so that Laker could grip the ball and spin it better and did not Laker lure the Aussies to defeat.
It did not take long for law makers of the game in that era to outlaw what Peter May did. Instead of disfiguring, tampering with the ball and insulting the ball makers, let’s allow the ball to do natural things like of old.