Ball-tampering a ‘cry for help’ in unbalanced sport

MUMBAI: South African paceman Dale Steyn believes this year’s Australian ball-tampering scandal could be viewed as a “cry for help” because the balance between bat and ball in cricket has become so skewed in favor of the batsmen. Steyn, one of the most prolific wicket-takers of his generation, did not condone the actions of the Cape Town trio but said the incident exposed the need for cricket to change to prevent the loss of the art of reverse swing bowling.

“It’s obviously not on, but if you think about it, it’s almost like a cry for help. We need to do something,” Steyn told Reuters in an interview. “There’s so much in favor of batsmen these days. Fields are small, two new balls, powerplays, bats have got bigger than they used to be, the list can go on. “You bowl a ‘no ball’ and it’s a free hit. But I have never seen a rule change that favors the bowler.”

Steyn, who is tied on 421 wickets with Shaun Pollock as South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in tests, felt the desperation to get the ball to swing was forcing cricketers to flirt with regulations. Typically, swing bowlers use the new ball to deviate it in the air to outwit batsmen but Pakistan fast bowlers stunned the world in the 1980s by introducing reverse swing to test cricket. The skill of making an old and battered ball move in the air in the opposite direction to conventional swing was developed into an art form in the following decade by their successors Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

In March, with South Africa already leading by more than 100 in the second innings for the loss of a single wicket on the third day of the third test, a trio of Australians hatched a plan to tamper with the ball to get that reverse swing.