Mohammed Shami had voiced for revoking the ban on saliva on the ball for more reverse swing. Former cricketers Vernon Philander and Tim Southee have backed Shami in this to add further voice to it. The ICC had banned saliva usage on the ball due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former internationals Vernon Philander and Tim Southee have backed Mohammed Shami‘s call to revoke the ban of saliva usage on the ball to bring back the reverse swing in play.
The ICC had banned the usage of saliva on the ball in May 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic on a temporary basis. The ban was made permanent in September 2022.
Indian speedster Shami had raised his voice to revoke the ban to get the reverse swing back. “We are trying [to get reverse swing], but the usage of saliva on the ball is not allowed,” Shami told media after India’s Champions Trophy semi-final win over Australia.
“We keep appealing that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring reverse swing back into the game and it becomes interesting,” he added.
Southee and Philander have now backed Shami’s views. “That was a rule brought around Covid with the virus going around the world, but I think as a bowler, you want to have a slight advantage,” Southee said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“We see the game going the way it’s going and seeing sides score 362 and more often than not over 300 in this format. I think there needs to be something in the bowlers’ favour, and whether that’s a little bit of saliva, then yeah, I don’t see why they couldn’t afford to get that back in.”
Philander stated that had the rule not been in place, South Africa could have done better with the ball against New Zealand in the second semifinal of the tournament. “If we look at the state of that ball, I mean towards the back end, it was really scuffed up, and I think had you used the saliva [to polish one side of the ball], the element of the reverse swing might have come into play,” Philander said. “So it certainly does play a part. You can get it to shine up, and you use the elements to swing it a little longer.
“I’d like to see that element being brought back into the game because I think it’s needed as well. I mean, especially in ODI cricket where we see batters really dominating, especially when you play on surfaces like we’ve just seen in Pakistan as well where it’s really batter friendly,” he added
