Starc: We still need something to help us shine ball

AUSTRALIA fast bowler Mitchell Starc believes the temporary ban on using saliva to shine the ball could hand batsmen a significant advantage.

The traditional method of polishing the ball with saliva to produce movement through the air has been deemed too risky in the current climate by the International Cricket Council, but the use of sweat is still allowed.

Starc said: “That contest between bat and ball – we don’t want to lose that or get further away from that even contest, so there needs to be something in place to keep that ball swinging.

“They (the ICC) mentioned the other day that it’s only going to be there for a period of time and then once the world gets back to a relatively normal situation then saliva can come back into shining the ball.”

The ball traditionally swings in England, of course, and few bowlers have better exploited that advantage than England’s James Anderson.

It will be fascinating to see how bowlers cope should the behind-closed-doors Test series against the West Indies and Pakistan get the go-ahead later this summer.

Australian manufacturer Kookaburra, meanwhile, has been busy developing a wax applicator that would allow cricket balls to be shined without using sweat or saliva and have said that it could be ready to use within a month.

The laws of cricket explicitly state that fielders must not use “artificial substances” to alter the condition of the ball but the idea that umpires would oversee the process, or even use a sponge applicator on behalf of the bowling side, provides a possible solution to the concerns of Starc and others.

■ England’s Test series against the West Indies could move a significant step closer on Thursday, with a board meeting in the Caribbean set to consider plans for the tour.

Hopes are high that the three-match series, originally scheduled for June but postponed as part of the wider coronavirus shutdown, can go ahead in July behind closed doors.

The Cricket West Indies board is due to hold a teleconference to discuss the England and Wales Cricket Board’s ‘bio-security’ arrangements.