Adelaide: Cricket Australia (CA) has imposed restrictions on its players from using sweat from face, head and neck or saliva to shine the ball during upcoming limited-overs tour to England. They are taking every measure possible to reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus. However using sweat from any other part of the body other than face, neck and head is permissible.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has completely banned the use of saliva, as a safety measure in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Australia pacer Mitchell Starc feels the restriction will not affect the game in the limited over formats. “It’s probably not something that’s too relevant in white-ball cricket. Once that new ball starts to go, you’re trying to keep it dry anyway. It’s more of a question for red-ball cricket,” Starc said.
“No doubt we’ll find out what it’s like in these practice games and if we need to revisit some planning around it, I’m sure we’ll have a chat before the series gets underway,” he added. England players were seen using sweat from their backs or forehead during the series against West Indies and Pakistan.
“I think we saw a bit during that England (Test) series, Jofra (Archer) using some sweat off his back and that sort of thing.” said Starc. “If the world stays as it is for a little while, those restrictions will still be there. That saliva one will probably be around for a lot longer anyway,” he added, “It’s one for the red-ball team to talk about when we get to that point, but at the moment we’re pretty good.”
