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Sweat instead of saliva won’t have the same ‘impact’ on the ball – Hazlewood

Hazlewood
by Wisden Staff 1 minute read

Josh Hazlewood, the Australia quick, has said the proposed ban on saliva for shining the cricket ball could be hard to police, and seemed uncertain on the use of sweat as a substitute.

The ICC Cricket Committee earlier this week made a few recommendations about how cricket should go about once it resumes after the Covid-19 break, calling for a complete ban on saliva.

The committee said that while shining the ball using saliva elevated the risk of infection, the usage of sweat doesn’t carry the same risk of spreading the virus. However, Hazlewood seemed wary about the effect of the proposed changes.

“I’d like saliva to be used obviously but if that’s what they’ve put forward, I guess everyone is playing the same game,” he told Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

“Once it comes back to you as a bowler, it’s second nature to just give it a little touch up if you see something, and that’s going to be hard to stop to be honest. And it’s a tough thing to monitor for sure.”

He even said using sweat as a substitute might not be as effective a substitute. “Sweat probably makes (the ball) a bit wetter if that makes sense. Makes it a bit heavier,” he said.

“I think you’ll use very small amounts because people have sweaty hands anyway, and it gets on the ball … I don’t think this will have as big an impact as what people think.”

There was talk of legalising the use of artificial substances to shine the ball, but the ICC Cricket Committee made no mention of that in their recommendations.

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