Use of Saliva to shine the ball is unfair practice: New Cricket Law

Cricket bowlers are often seen using saliva to shine the bowl as they believe that a shining ball helps them take wickets. However, after the start of the pandemic, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which is the custodian of cricket laws in the world, had banned the use of saliva as it can cause the spread of the virus from one person to another.

Now, the MCC has formally amended the law and said that saliva application on the ball falls into the category of an unfair law. It says that according to its research, saliva doesn’t cause any impact on the movement of the ball.

"The new Laws will not permit the use of saliva on the ball, which also removes any grey areas of fielders eating sugary sweets to alter their saliva to apply to the ball. Using saliva will be treated the same way as any other unfair methods of changing the condition of the ball," the MCC said.

In another amendment, the MCC has legitimized "Mankad" dismissals as a runout. It was earlier treated as “unfair play".

In a statement, announcing the changes, it said, “Law 41.16 – running out the non-striker – has been moved from Law 41 (Unfair Play) to Law 38 (Run out). The wording of the Law remains the same."

Many cricketers have criticised the amendment of “Mankad” as a runout and said that it doesn’t require any skill from the bowlers.