Dubai, September 20
Using saliva to polish the ball is now prohibited permanently by the International Cricket Council (ICC), announced the organisation while introducing new changes to its playing conditions on Tuesday.
“The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced several changes to its playing conditions after the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) ratified recommendations from the Sourav Ganguly-led Men’s Cricket Committee, which discussed MCC’s updated 3rd Edition of the 2017 Code of the Laws of Cricket and shared its conclusions with Women’s Cricket Committee, who endorsed the recommendations to CEC,” said a statement from the council.
The main changes to the playing conditions that come into effect on October 1 are: Batters returning when caught: When a batter is out caught, the new batter will come in at the end the striker was, regardless of whether the batters crossed prior to the catch being taken.
Use of saliva to polish the ball: This prohibition has been in place for over two years in international cricket as a covid-related temporary measure and it is considered appropriate for the ban to be made permanent.