Saliva ban won’t affect much in Indian conditions, opines Mitchell Starc

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has had to take several measures in these unprecedented circumstances. One of these adjustments has been the recommended ban on the usage of saliva to shine the ball, an act that could cause infection during the game.

This recommendation by the ICC has received a lot of flak from several cricketers and experts as the use of saliva to produce swing is an integral part of cricket. However, according to Australia pacer Mitchell Starc, the new regulation won’t affect bowling in Indian conditions that much. Starc, on Tuesday, stated that in India, due to a lot of humidity, there will be enough sweat that could be used to polish the SG ball well. 

“In Indian conditions, the ban might not have so much of an affect. You sweat a lot in the hot and humid conditions and you can use it to polish the SG ball well. Another aspect is the pitches and conditions don’t offer much in terms of swing movement unlike those in England and Australia,” Starc told reporters during an online press conference, as quoted by TOI. 

However, the Aussie pacer admitted that this new rule would alter the balance between bat and ball. The southpaw further pressed that given the new regulations, curators must be instructed to leave extra grass on wickets or artificial substance must be allowed to shine the ball to give pacers more say in the games. Starc further admitted that while has relied on the usage of both sweat and saliva for ball shining, he was more inclined to use sweat. 

“You use both saliva and sweat to shine the ball. I’ve probably been a bit more on the sweat side, and I try not to get my hands in my mouth too much but I agree that there needs to be something in place to keep that ball swinging. They’ve mentioned that it's only going to be an interim measure.

"So for the time being, they should instruct people to leave more grass on the wickets to have an even contest between bat and ball. Otherwise, people are going to stop watching, and kids aren't going to want to be bowlers. There are some pretty flat wickets, and if that ball doesn’t do much and goes straight then it becomes a pretty boring contest,” Starc said.

The 30-year-old veteran pacer also revealed that Kookaburra is developing a wax that could be used to shine the ball instead of saliva. However, the ICC is inclined towards not allowing the usage of foreign substances.

“I understand that they are opposed to using a foreign substance, but we have to check whether it can be controlled by the umpires in terms of they have a portion of the wax and you can only use a small amount,” he added.