CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Friday, May 22, 2020 | 19 SPORTS

CRICKET Taking the shine off swing Proposal to outlaw age­old practice of spit­polishing due to pandemic could change how the game is played forever

move to ban the use of saliva to shine a Kohli credits because of the danger of trans­ stance change mittingA COVID­19 may force for new-found bowlers to relearn or reinvent versatility one of the sport’s most prized but troublesome skills. The International Cricket Coun­ ’s wide range of cil’s cricket committee, comprising a shots makes him one of the roll call of former top players, has most versatile batsmen of his recommended on medical advice era and the India says it that spit­polishing the ball should was a tweak to his stance that be prohibited while the coronavirus brought him a deluge of runs in outbreak persists. Unlike baseball, recent years. where the spitball has long been ille­ Kohli made his India debut in gal, some methods in cricket are a 2008 as a flashy batsman but well­established part of the game. has since combined compact The cricket decision was based on technique with elegant shot­ evidence from Dr. Peter Harcourt, making. the chair of the ICC’s medical advi­ In a Facebook Live chat with sory committee, who warned of “the one­day captain elevated risk of the transmission of , he said ditching the virus through saliva”. his earlier stance opened up It found at the same time that it is scoring options for him. “highly unlikely that the virus can be “I changed because I wanted transmitted through sweat and saw to score all over the ground. The no need to prohibit the use of sweat static position was limiting my to polish the ball”. shotmaking options,” said the The decision of the committee, 31­year­old, who goes back­ chaired by former India captain and­across in his current and comprising high­ stance. profile ex­international stars such “It works for many, Sachin as England’s , Sri Tendulkar for instance. He had Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene, no issues because of his superi­ India’s and South Afri­ or technique and hand­eye ca’s , seems a straight­ coordination. forward hygiene precaution as “I had to tweak it to suit my cricket considers a path to resump­ game. When someone first told tion amid the pandemic. But noth­ me it could open up my options, ing to do with swinging a cricket ball I thought of giving it a try. is ever simple. India captain Virat Kohli (above) and former England skipper Ala­ “Luckily, it clicked and I Even the science around out­ stair Cook spit­polish the ball during Test matches in 2019 and 2015 immediately started executing swing, inswing and reverse swing respectively. Bowlers apply saliva to help the ball swing, however, shots I never thought I could.” bowling isn’t generally agreed or the International Cricket Council has recommended that the prac­ Kohli averages 50­plus in all understood, nor are the conditions tice be outlawed while the coronavirus pandemic persists. AP three formats, has smashed that favor or the 70 international centuries and means that allow a bowler to cause boasts an exquisite cover the ball to deviate in the air as it trav­ world will be working to find out as Ex­Australia captain drive. els towards the batsmen. Inducing the ban on spit­polishing passes and vice­captain Among his contemporaries, swing is one of cricket’s most through the ICC machinery. were banned for 12 months and Australian Steve Smith has an desired skills but also a minefield The recommendation of the crick­ batsman for nine unorthodox but effective threaded by a narrow path which et committee moves now to the chief months by for stance, standing open to the divides legality from illegality. executives’ committee where likely their involvement in an attempt to bowler and shuffling across the Spit­polishing by the bowler or it will be quickly endorsed. use sandpaper to alter the condition off­stump line, and Kohli said the team has been for dec­ The use of saliva was always of the ball in a Test match in South batsmen had to find out what ades the accepted method of shin­ fraught because, by chewing gum, Africa in 2018. worked for them. ing one side of the ball to create the sucking boiled candy or some other For that reason the cricket com­ “I always feel you should be aerodynamic asymmetry which, in confectionery, it was possible to mittee cautiously considered wheth­ open to changes ... You can’t conjunction with the position and apply to the ball some combination er, in the absence of saliva, the use of stagnate, you have to keep angle of the seam and the and of saliva and another agent that an artificial substance such as wax to learning,” he said. action of the bowler, causes enhanced the shine. shine the ball should be temporarily saliva have been promoted. chairman Lachlan Baird has said “If you keep playing in the the ball to swing. — the use of illegal methods or sub­ approved. The committee found the The Australian cricket ball manu­ experimentation may be necessary. same manner, opposition will Licking the fingers, applying the stances to change the condition of question too fraught: at present the facturer Kookaburra last month “The ICC is working really closely figure out your game. You have saliva to the ball and rubbing it vig­ the ball — has been one of cricket’s use of any artificial substance consti­ suggested the use of a small sponge with all the cricket bodies around the to be ahead of the game. orously on the trousers to improve most chronic or intractable prob­ tutes ball tampering and members or applicator to apply wax to the ball world in terms of finding new ways,” “So try it and drop it if it the shine has become an ingrained, lems. felt any relaxation or variation of the with the oversight of the umpires. Baird told the Australian Broadcast­ doesn’t work, but any batsman almost instinctive action by players The former captain rule might be problematic. The great Australian leg­spinner ing Corp. “Some consideration is should be open to positive between deliveries — one that will was twice sanctioned However, amid fears that an ina­ suggested weighting now being given to whether things changes,” added Kohli. be hard to resist or unlearn. Wheth­ for ball tampering: first for rubbing bility to swing the ball might tip the the ball to create swing. like that wax applicator will become er sweat can be as effectively the ball on the zip of his trousers and balance of cricket matches too far in Moves are underway for cricket to part of cricket’s new normal.” REUTERS employed as saliva is uncertain but later for applying saliva mixed with favor of batsmen, various methods resume in Darwin, Australia, as ear­ it is likely every swing bowler in the a mint or other candy. to reproduce swing in the absence of ly as next month and local cricket AP VIA XINHUA

RODEO ICE HOCKEY Bull riders quickly back in the saddle NHL working toward restart at ‘hub venues’ By MURRAY GREIG “We knew that any decision was [email protected] going to be a larger decision about the community, about everybody By MURRAY GREIG to accommodate multiple games per The quintessential North Ameri­ that would be affected economical­ day without fans. Adequate hotel can sport isn’t going to let the coro­ ly through this process and it was National Hockey League commis­ space to house teams in isolation navirus pandemic stand in the way not a decision that we came by sioner Gary Bettman says the NHL and testing for COVID­19 without of business as usual. lightly,” said Dana Peers, president is looking at “eight or nine different burdening the local medical resour­ The US­based Professional Bull and board chairman of the Calgary places” that can accommodate “a ces are other considerations. Riders announced this week it will Stampede. dozen or so teams in one location” as “We are looking at eight or nine host rounds of the PBR Monster “But it is a decision that is the it explores ways to resume the sea­ locations. I am told that there can be Energy Team Challenge Champi­ best interest of public health and son that was suspended in March enough capacity, and certainly over onship during a three­day event in safety.” due to the COVID­19 pandemic. the next couple of months, there will July in South Dakota, almost cer­ The cancellation is the first in the In an interview with NHL.com in be more capacity,” Bettman said. tainly making it North America’s 97­year history of what’s been New York on Monday, Bettman indi­ “But that is a fundamental question, first pro sports enterprise to wel­ dubbed “The Greatest Show on cated there is still time to finish the and we certainly can’t be jumping come fans back to the stands dur­ Earth”. regular season before launching the the line in front of medical needs.” ing the pandemic. The 10­day Stampede and relat­ Stanley Cup playoffs. The league and the NHL Players’ The Sanford Denny Premier Cen­ ed events draw more than a mil­ “I don’t think anybody has a fixed Association have formed a “return ter in Sioux Falls will host the com­ lion people each July and timetable, particularly in North to play” committee that has met petition. The venue can hold up to generates nearly $500 million in America,” the commissioner said. online several times. 12,000 spectators, but organizers revenue for Calgary. It avoided “We have been working very hard “Do we do an abbreviated regular will only sell around 4,000 tickets. Bull riding looks set to become North America’s first pro sport to cancellation during the Great since we took the pause on March 12 season, because our competitive Free face coverings for all fans, welcome back fans to the stands after plans were announced to Depression and the Second World to make sure that whatever the tim­ balance is so extraordinary, it’s hard seats spaced four to six feet apart sell 4,000 tickets for a July rodeo in South Dakota. AP War, but the COVID­19 pandemic ing is, whatever the sequencing is, to tell how the season would have and strict control of the flow of peo­ proved too risky. whatever physical ability we have in ended?” said Bettman. ple entering and exiting the arena Codey McCurrach, a driver with terms of locations to play, that we’re “Or do we go right to the playoffs are other precautions that will be in shows that we can reopen arenas in gramming on the CBS Sports Net­ the World Professional Chuckwag­ in a position to execute any or all of and in what form? And if we’re not effect. safe and innovative ways. work, with the world’s top 48 bull on Association, said the decision those options. There is still a great playing in front of fans, which at “South Dakota is working hard “We commend the PBR for their riders — primarily from the US, makes perfect sense. deal of uncertainty.” least in the short term seems likely, to get things back to normal, and careful planning and will continue Canada, Australia and New Zea­ “It’s going to affect us very dra­ With 17 percent of NHL players do we do it in a centralized location that includes the return of sports at to work with them to ensure the land — competing in the 12­team matically in an economic sense,” he currently quarantined outside of or locations? the proper time,” governor Kristi safety of their fans.” challenge. said. North America, Bettman said the “All of the major sports in North Noem said in a statement. The first rounds of the team com­ The PBR announcement comes “Without that revenue coming in NHL would need to resolve border America are going through this “South Dakotans have been petition — closed to the public — two weeks after the world’s richest to race wagons and support the and international transportation same exercise, and while the medi­ smart and innovative in respond­ will take place in Las Vegas starting and longest­running pro rodeo in business that you love, it’s not like issues before play could resume. cal and health issues are probably ing to this crisis, and the plan for on June 5. In all, the PBR event will Calgary, Canada, was canceled we’re getting rich at it. The guys If the league opts for centralized the same for all of us, the logistics the Denny Sanford Premier Center produce about 41 hours of pro­ because of the pandemic. drive due to their love of the sport.” “hubs”, those locations would have may be a little different.”