Spit out, Mankads in: MCC updates cricket laws

Lollies that helped England win the 2005 Ashes and embroiled Faf du Plessis in a ball-tampering row have been formally outlawed as cricket's rule-makers removed a long-standing grey area around ball shining.

Among the changes to game's regulations announced by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Wednesday was confirmation the use of saliva has been permanently forbidden as a ball-shining method.

The COVID-19 pandemic had largely seen the practice suspended for hygienic reasons but the decision to make it an ongoing feature of the Laws of Cricket means the days of mints and sugary sweets being used on the ball are over.

Players can still use sweat to shine the ball under the rule changes that come into effect in October 1.  

The use of Murray Mints by England during their drought-breaking Test series win over Australia in 2005 emerged as a point of contention in the years after given the home side's skilful use of reverse swing.

The legality or otherwise of using sweets has long been argued but fielders were put on notice when Du Plessis was found guilty of 'changing the condition of the ball' by the International Cricket Council on a contentious 2016 tour of Australia.

Du Plessis had been caught applying saliva to the ball with a white mint in his mouth in Hobart.

The new rules now ban the use of saliva – minted or otherwise – which the MCC says will remove "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."

It also suggested research had found banning saliva for COVID-19 reasons has had "little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were getting. Players were using sweat to polish the ball, and this was equally effective."

The new Law says fielders can "polish the ball on his/her clothing provided that no artificial substance is used, that the only natural substance used is sweat, and that such polishing wastes no time."

Marcus Trescothick, the opening batter in charge of ball shining for England during the 2001 and 2005 Ashes, spilled the beans on the use of Murray Mints to gain a swing-bowling advantage in his 2008 autobiography, Coming Back to Me.

"Through trial and error I finally settled on the best type of spit for the task at hand," wrote Trescothick.

"It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled it to keep its shine for longer and therefore its swing.

"… I had a go at Murray Mints and found they worked a treat."

Rahul Dravid had been fined half his match payment during a 2004 ODI match against Zimbabwe at the Gabba when he was caught by television cameras using a cough lozenge on the ball.

Former Test paceman Angus Fraser had suggested wine gums had been used by county teams in England.

South Africa were outraged their captain's conduct came under question in 2016, insisting the line between legitimately applying spit to the ball to buff up the shiny side and ball tampering was unclear.

"I chew bubble gum while I'm on the field – you want me to brush my teeth after lunch?" Hashim Amla asked reporters at a heated press conference during a tour match at the MCG.

In other changes announced this week, the 'Mankad' law about running out the non-strikers has been recategorised and moved from the law governing 'unfair play' to the law on run outs.

The wording remains the same, but the move away from the 'unfair play' law adds legitimacy to a mode of dismissal still seen as highly controversial.

A new batter coming to the crease will face the next delivery regardless of whether the previous pair had crossed while the ball was in the air before being caught.

This follows a trial used by the England and Wales Cricket Board during the Hundred.

The law around judging a wide has also been amended, given batters are now moving laterally around the crease more before the ball is bowled.

There are several changes to the dead ball law, and a pitch invader or animal on the field will now result in a dead ball.

Batters will no longer be able to leave the pitch to chase a wild delivery and smack it to, or over, the fence, as Allan Border famously did to a de Phil Simmons delivery in a Guyana ODI in 1991. A delivery that requires a batter to leave the pitch to reach it will now be a dead ball, and also a no ball.

- with AAP