Colombo: Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur on Wednesday stated the bowlers are tying to get used to not applying saliva on cricket balls during their training sessions.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had earlier announced that a select squad of 13 players will undergo a 12-day ‘Residential Training Camp’ at the Colombo Cricket Club starting Monday. Following the first few sessions, Arthur revealed bowlers have told him that applying sweat on the ball makes it a bit heavier in comparison to saliva. “It was interesting chatting to the bowlers, who said sweat made the ball a little bit heavier than saliva did,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo.
“Saliva was their preferred mechanism of shining the ball. But it is what it is now, you’ve just got to get on with it.”The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricket Committee chaired by Anil Kumble had earlier recommended banning the usage of saliva to polish the match ball in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
They had also noted that the risk of spread of the virus through sweat is highly unlikely and saw no need to prohibit the practice. “Because I’m on the [ICC] cricket committee, I do know the debates and the chats that went around the recommendation to avoid using saliva on the ball — though you can use sweat on the ball because it’s been proven that sweat is not a real threat,” Arthur said. “The consensus in that committee meeting was: ‘Oh, well, if you can put sweat on, then it’s ok. It’s almost the same’,” he added. John Michael “Mickey” Arthur is a South African Australian cricket coach and former cricketer, who played in South African domestic cricket from 1986 to 2001. He was also the coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team. In December 2019, Mickey was appointed as the new head coach of Sri Lanka. (IANS)
