Australian cricket tour of South Africa September/October 2026

From what I've been reading and watching on SM, working on the ball is illegal, but everyone have been doing it. Taking sandpaper on the field is not on.
 
Nerfherder said:
Hard truth is that all (good) teams do it, even SA.
Its just one of those things, perhaps less prevalent since Australia took the blame.

How much reverse swing have we seen since the incident ?
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The rules changed in Covid and were made permanent. And maybe u missed starc at newlands for a recent example of swing.
 
Nerfherder said:
Its just more rare... and almost considered sus.

Which rule changes though ?
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You cannot apply spit to the ball.

Players now use sweat, like wiping from their brow, but that is another can of worms when players coat their faces in sunscreen, as applying sunscreen to the ball can be seen as altering the ball with an external substance.
 
handyman007 said:
From what I've been reading and watching on SM, working on the ball is illegal, but everyone have been doing it. Taking sandpaper on the field is not on.
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Working the ball is probably as old as the sport itself.

Spit, sunscreen, fingernails, a hidden bottle cap, Faf du Plessis' zipper, players even used to bite into the ball. England's Mike Atherton was caught with sand in his pocket, which he was using to rough up the ball.

Spit was the only one that was tolerated up until Covid, but even then to a point because the ball would be chucked between 2 or 3 people before it got to the bowler, with each person applying spit to shine it up and it became ridiculous.
 
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Pegging said:
The rules changed in Covid and were made permanent. And maybe u missed starc at newlands for a recent example of swing.
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That was conventional swing with the new ball under cloud cover. It was very impressive to see but good fortune with the weather played a big part and the new ball isn't really relevant to the ball tampering discussion.
 
handyman007 said:
From what I've been reading and watching on SM, working on the ball is illegal, but everyone have been doing it. Taking sandpaper on the field is not on.
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Working the ball had always been legal, but using foreign objects to do so is not. Pre-covid saliva was the most commonly used, as was sweat. Saliva has since been banned internationally, although IPL has allowed it again.

In general improving the condition of the ball has been largely accepted (within legal bounds) but damaging it is heavily frowned upon. So rubbing the ball on your upper leg to "polish" it is totally fine. Rubbing it across the pocket zipper to rough it up is a no-no (ask Faf).

Edit: in the days when spit was commonplace players would suck on certain sweets in the belief that those sweets produced more (or "better") saliva.
 
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Speedster said:
Working the ball had always been legal, but using foreign objects to do so is not. Pre-covid saliva was the most commonly used, as was sweat. Saliva has since been banned internationally, although IPL has allowed it again.

In general improving the condition of the ball has been largely accepted (within legal bounds) but damaging it is heavily frowned upon. So rubbing the ball on your upper leg to "polish" it is totally fine. Rubbing it across the pocket zipper to rough it up is a no-no (ask Faf).

Edit: in the days when spit was commonplace players would suck on certain sweets in the belief that those sweets produced more (or "better") saliva.
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Wasn't it more to do with the fact that sucking on sweets could produce a stickier saliva, which could help alter the ball's movement off of the pitch and also pick up dust on the rough side.
 
thestaggy said:
Wasn't it more to do with the fact that sucking on sweets could produce a stickier saliva, which could help alter the ball's movement off of the pitch and also pick up dust on the rough side.
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Yep, sucking a mint breaking of the sugar bits and plugging the scuffs on the one side.
 
Cummins is lying through his teeth. Its becoming very clear. The whole team knew and were encouraged by certain execs to do anything to win.
Then when they got exposed they decided warner, Smith and Bancroft will carry the can for everyone.

They are now pissed because Uzzie let the cat out of the bag before they all have retired.

Also its not just warner and usman confirming his version its sayers, bancroft and holland who were also on that tour.
 
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